Cumulative Heat-Related Deaths Reach 23... Over Half Aged 80 and Older

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With another person dying from a heat-related illness the day before yesterday (August 6), the death toll from heat illnesses this year has risen to 23. More than half of the deceased were seniors aged 80 and older.

Reporter Han Sung-hee has the story.

[Reporter]

Ajjokbang village (row-house shanty town) in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

The 2-pyeong (approx. 6.6-square-meter) room where 65-year-old Kim Gin-do lives has no air conditioner.

[Kim Gin-do / Jongno-gu, Seoul: (Just sitting here makes me sweat again.) Yes. The room temperature is quite high right now.]

His body temperature was measured.

[It reads 37.1°C (99°F).]

Even an electric fan is of no use.

[Kim Gin-do / Jongno-gu, Seoul: (Why did you turn it off now?) It blows hot air.]

However, going outside is out of the question, so he spends most of his time in his room.

[Kim Gin-do / Jongno-gu, Seoul: I just stay in the room. If I go outside for a bit, I get dizzy, so I come straight back in. I have no appetite because the weather is too hot.]

Not only outdoors, but staying in hot indoor spaces like this can also lead to heat-related illnesses such as heatstroke or heat exhaustion.

When the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency analyzed this year's heat illness patients, patients in their 60s like Mr. Kim numbered 485, making up the largest share at 18% of the total 2,665 patients.

The number of deaths in their 60s is two.

Let us look at those aged 80 and older.

Heat illness patients aged 80 and older stood at 329, accounting for 12.3% of the total, but deaths among them numbered 13 out of 23, which is more than half.

The older people get, the more their body temperature regulation declines, making heat-related illnesses inevitably more dangerous.

While those aged 80 and older most frequently contracted heat illnesses while working in fields, heat illness patients occurring indoors also reached 18.5%.

[Ahn Yun-jin / Director, Climate Health and Health Hazards Response Division, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency: We could see that the risk of heat-related illnesses is high even indoors. Special care and efforts are needed to keep indoor spaces cool.]

Checking in on elderly people who live alone or have mobility issues to ensure they drink water frequently and use air conditioning can be of great help.

(Camera: Kim Se-kyung | Video Editing: Park Choon-bae | Design: Park Tae-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.