The government is planning to dispatch about 10 Self-Defense Forces doctors and nurses to the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido, and about five to Osaka Prefecture, where the novel coronavirus outbreak is straining the medical system, in response to requests from the governors of the two prefectures.
According to the Defense Ministry, about 1,000 doctors and nurses each are working at various SDF hospitals and units across the country. Of them, those who are assigned to the units are expected to be dispatched. The planned dispatch follows that of about 30 SDF doctors and nurses to Okinawa Prefecture in August.
"We will collaborate with local governments closely and do our utmost to prevent the spread [of the novel coronavirus] to not let anybody fall seriously ill or die, as much as possible," Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said at a press conference Tuesday.
The government plans to respond swiftly to the situation as a case of "disaster dispatch," one of the SDF activities stipulated in the Self-Defense Forces Law, which normally means rescue missions in earthquakes, typhoons and other disasters.
"We are prepared to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces as soon as local governments request this," Suga said Monday at a government-ruling party liaison meeting at the Prime Minister's Office, expressing a sense of crisis that hospital beds for critically ill patients are starting to get full.
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