At least 1,590 medical workers, mainly nurses and doctors, have been infected with the novel coronavirus, according to Yomiuri Shimbun tabulations.
Of the 816 whose occupational categories were identified, about 60% were nurses, including registered nurses and assistant nurses.
These numbers once again highlight the high risk of infection in medical institutions and the need to take thorough protective measures is becoming a major issue.
As of May 31, the total number of infected people counted by local governments, excluding those found infected on cruise ships and in airport quarantine, was 16,558. The Yomiuri Shimbun has analyzed about 12,800 people whose occupational categories were disclosed.
The method of publicizing occupations differs from municipality to municipality. In some cases, jobs such as "doctor" and "nurse" are revealed, while in others, only general fields such as "medical worker" are disclosed.
The Yomiuri Shimbun compiled medical worker figures, tallying 1,590. Cases in which the infection was not thought to have occurred at medical institutions -- such as cases in which there was a possibility of infection within a family -- were excluded.
Of the 816 medical workers with job descriptions, 498 (432 women, 59 men, 7 undisclosed) were nurses, or 61%. By age, the highest number of nurses were in their 20s, at 144. Nurses appear to be at increased risk of infection because they come into contact with patients during many stages, from checkup to discharge. In addition, there were 223 doctors and 44 medical clerks. Dentists, pharmacists and physical therapists were among the other medical workers infected with the virus.
Juntendo University Prof. Satoshi Hori said, "As the disease has spread to all areas, it is not always the case that only those who are experienced in handling infectious diseases or specialized hospitals are engaged in medical care. The central and local governments need to provide extensive support in terms of supplies and personnel."
More than 40 doctors and nurses at St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Yokohama City Seibu Hospital have been found to be infected with the novel coronavirus.
"I thought the novel coronavirus mainly spread through airborne droplets, but I was surprised that it spread so much by contact," said a Yokohama health and safety section official who inspected the hospital.
According to an interim report about the infection outbreak at the hospital, two hospitalized patients were found to be infected on April 21, and subsequent infections were soon discovered in the hospital. So far, 30 patients and 43 staff, 34 of whom are nurses, have been found to have been infected.
According to the city government, there is a possibility that measures to prevent infection were not taken thoroughly when people wore or took off protective clothing. In addition, it was confirmed that devices that many people could touch -- such as touch panels installed at the entrance of patients' rooms, electronic terminals for checking patients' information and fingerprint identification readers on shared computers containing electronic medical records -- were not properly disinfected.
"We want to strengthen the measures that are lacking, such as thorough preventive measures," a hospital official said.
The risk of infection also exists in routine checkups.
At Tonan Hospital in Sapporo, a male patient who regularly visits the hospital complained of fatigue and consulted with the internal medicine department on March 3. Although there were no symptoms of fever, a CT scan showed a white shadow on his lungs, so a PCR test was conducted. The next day, he was found to be positive for the novel coronavirus.
Eight staff members who had contact with the man were tested at the hospital and one female nurse was confirmed infected on March 10. She had contact with the male patient for about one hour, including a 30 minute conversation during the checkup. She was wearing a mask at the time, but wore the same outfit as usual and did not wear gloves until the CT scan showed that the man may have an infection.
"It is difficult to know how much equipment should be used to treat patients who have no suspicious symptoms and cannot be immediately linked to the virus," hospital director Shunichi Okushiba said.
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