OSAKA -- A novel coronavirus patient in Osaka spent about 1-1/2 days in an ambulance until a hospital was found that could accept him, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
Paramedics administered oxygen and other treatment while they were waiting for an available facility. They eventually found a hospital outside the city that could treat the man. The patient, whose condition worsened, is receiving treatment in a critical care unit, sources said.
According to medical sources, the patient made an emergency call to the Osaka City Fire Department on Tuesday morning, and an ambulance was dispatched to collect him.
A center in Osaka Prefecture that coordinates patient hospitalizations searched for a facility, but several hospitals refused to receive the man due to a lack of capacity.
The paramedics looked after the man through the night in shifts. On Wednesday, a hospital outside the city that is said to have increased the number of beds for coronavirus patients was found to treat the man.
The patient was taken to the hospital at about 5 p.m. that day. He had low blood oxygen levels, indicating the condition of his respiratory function, and was placed on artificial respiration, the sources said.
Bed occupancy rates at hospitals in the prefecture had reached 82.5% as of Thursday, and the number of patients recuperating at home had risen to 9,202. There has been an increase in the number of patients staying at home who cannot find a place to be hospitalized even if they request emergency transport.
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