Over 500 people in Japan have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and an analysis of 100 deaths in Tokyo and Osaka prefectures shows there was an average of 8.7 days between the confirmation of infection and death.
The Yomiuri Shimbun analyzed 100 fatalities and the dates when local governments announced these patients had tested positive for the virus. Of these, 13 people were confirmed to be positive on the day of their death or later.
It is believed that in some cases the symptoms had already worsened by the time the patients found out about their test results, highlighting anew the need for quick testing and measures to prevent the conditions from becoming serious.
The confirmed number of people infected nationwide, excluding those who were confirmed to be infected on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was in Yokohama, stood at 14,877 as of Saturday, when the death toll rose to 517, accounting for 3.5% of confirmed infections.
In many cases, local governments do not disclose the details of information on the deceased, citing the wishes of the bereaved families and other reasons. The Tokyo metropolitan government has announced the dates of patients testing positive for 54 out of 141 deaths as of Saturday, while the Osaka prefectural government has announced the dates for 46 people.
Of these 100 people, 50 of them died within seven days after testing positive and nine of them died on the day they were found to be infected. There were also four people whose positive tests were confirmed the day after death or later.
Based on this information, the average number of days between the infection confirmation and death was 8.7 days, with Tokyo data averaging 7.9 days and Osaka's averaging 9.7 days.
Currently in Japan, there are also cases where it takes more than a day to receive the results of a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test to check for the novel coronavirus after patients show such symptoms as fever and visit a specialized clinic. Because of this, the time between the onset of symptoms and death is likely longer than the average in this analysis. In Osaka, the dates of the onset of the disease were disclosed for 34 of the 46 victims, and the average number of days from onset to death was 16.1 days.
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