수도권 코로나19 병상 여유…태릉선수촌 등 생활치료센터 개소

Authorities are racing against the clock to contain the latest Covid-19 outbreak.
They're back to the track, trace, and test system.
But with the rapid pace of the spread in the greater Seoul area, the country is gearing up for a possible hospital bed shortage in the future.
That includes turning the Korea National Training Center into a treatment facility.
Jang Taehyun reports.
Standing a meter apart from one another, people are lining up to get tested for coronavirus.
Over 76-hundred police officers are getting tested.
They were on duty at a demonstration in central Seoul last Saturday that was attended by 10 coronavirus patients.
As COVID-19 infections increase, health authorities are trying to ensure that there won't be a shortage of beds.
"As of Tuesday, there are 71 beds in the Seoul metropolitan area that can treat severe cases. 793 beds are left in hospitals that can treat infectious diseases and it's enough to respond to the speed of the occurrence of patients."
Starting from Wednesday, the Taereung Training Center in northeast Seoul will take care of some COVID-19 patients.
Taereung Training Center is to be used as a treatment facility for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients and those with mild symptoms.
This place was originally used to train athletes, but has been vacant since 2017 when national athletics teams relocated to a new training facility in Jincheon, Chungcheongbuk-do Province.
The center was used as a COVID-19 treatment facility last March and now, it's being used again.
It can accommodate 382 patients.
Another place that treats minor cases is a hostel in Namsan which has 118 beds.
The government is planning to open five more treatment centers two in Seoul and three in Gyeonggi-do Province.
These centers will provide five hundred more beds.
Health authorities are also preparing 13-hundred beds in other regions.
Jang Tae-hyun, Arirang News.