Photo : YONHAP News
The number of patients suffering from heat-related illnesses jumped over 30 percent this year from a year earlier due to the historic heat wave this summer.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on Sunday, the number of patients with heat-related illnesses from May 20 to September 30 reached three-thousand-704, up 31-point-four percent from a year earlier.
During the period, 34 people have died from illnesses caused by the extreme heat, up six-point-three percent from a year earlier. This year’s figure is the second largest after 2018, when it marked 48.
About 30 percent of the patients were aged 65 and older, while those in their 50s accounted for 19-point-three percent.
Male patients took up 78-point-five percent of the total.