Four people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the Seoul metropolitan area have died while waiting to be hospitalized for treatment.

According to health authorities on Friday, a man in his 80s who tested positive at a nursing home in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, died on Wednesday. He had been on a waiting list for a hospital bed since being confirmed last Saturday.

Two other men at the same facility under cohort isolation, both in their 70s, died on Sunday and Monday, respectively, after their conditions worsened due to the virus.

A man in his 60s in Seoul also died on Tuesday while waiting to be hospitalized.

Amid a recent spike in infections, the Central Disaster Management Headquarters said as of Thursday, only 45 out of 568 beds, or seven-point-nine percent, were available around the country to accommodate COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care.

In Gyeonggi Province, where over 250 patients are waiting for beds, plans are under way to secure an additional 179 beds within this month, in cooperation with public and private hospitals.