In Tokyo and four other prefectures, at least 80% of hospital beds for patients infected with the new coronavirus have been filled, according to a nationwide survey by The Yomiuri Shimbun.
The Tokyo metropolitan government and prefectural governments have secured hospital beds exclusively for the treatment of infected patients. But in 19 prefectures, 50% or more of these beds have already been filled.
The figures indicate that hospitals' capacity to treat coronavirus patients has become tight in many parts of the nation.
The survey asked prefectural governments and the Tokyo metropolitan government for the number of hospital beds set aside for the purpose and how many patients had been hospitalized as of April 21.
The survey results show that a total of about 11,000 hospital beds have been secured for coronavirus patients nationwide. This is a jump from about 7,000 beds reported in a similar survey in early April.
It is assumed that prefectural governments urgently sought to secure hospital beds alongside the rapid increase in infections.
However, the percentages of such beds already being put to use exceeded 80% in Ishikawa, Hyogo, Kochi and Fukuoka prefectures.
The number of infected patients in Tokyo was about 2,400 when the survey was conducted, including those who have recuperated at home. The number greatly exceeded that of the 2,000 available hospital beds.
Among the 19 prefectures where more than 50% of beds were in use, including Tokyo and Hokkaido, 11 were prefectures requiring special measures under the state of emergency due to a rapid increase in the number of infections.
In Kochi Prefecture, more than 90% of beds for coronavirus patients were in use, and the rates in Kagawa and Okinawa prefectures exceeded 70%. Such prefectures started out with a relatively small number of hospital beds, so their ability to provide medical services has worsened as the number of coronavirus patients has increased.
The government's expert panel stated in a proposal made on Wednesday that efforts to secure hospital beds for coronavirus patients "cannot catch up with the rise in infections."
Prof. Kazuhiro Tateda of Toho University, who is a member of the panel, said, "It is necessary to have a sense of urgency by considering that such tight situations [in the number of beds] could occur in any region, and then think how to improve the systems."
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