As new coronavirus cases surge to an all-time high, the increase in the number of COVID-19 patients with serious symptoms has been adversely impacting general medical care, a health ministry advisory body said Wednesday.
The advisory body expressed alarm about the continued increase in the number of patients with severe symptoms, whose numbers had largely been kept in check throughout the pandemic, and cited strong concerns that restrictions placed on general medical care in the Tokyo metropolitan area may cost lives that could otherwise have been saved.
In Tokyo, the number of severe COVID-19 cases has continued to climb, mainly among patients in their 40s and 50s. According to Cabinet Secretariat data, the hospital bed occupancy rate for such patients had reached 72% as of Tuesday, easily exceeding the 50% threshold for classification as "Stage 4," the worst level in the government's four-tier infection severity index.
Okinawa Prefecture has also reported a rapid surge in new infections. The number of confirmed cases has more than doubled week-on-week, straining hospitals as bed occupancy rates for severe patients stands at 86%.
In Osaka Prefecture, severe cases began to rise once again, as the number of infections increased by 90% from the previous week.
The advisory body sounded alarm over the trends, saying that although there have been relatively low mortality rates so far, the death toll could chart an upward trajectory as the situation unfolds.
Also in light of the increasing number of patients who have been waiting at home pending arrangements for hospitalization, advisory body chairman Takaji Wakita, director general of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, said: "There is an urgent need to streamline a system that can expediently handle patients who become seriously ill, through such measures as stepping-up doctor house calls and home-visit nursing care services."
-- Turned away at the door
In Tokyo, the virus' unabated spread has been rapidly pushing hospitals to the brink.
Nippon Medical School Hospital in Bunkyo Ward is among those that has been treating patients with serious symptoms. But Shoji Yokobori, head of the Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, said the hospital has had to turn away nearly 20 patients over the past few days.
In August, the hospital increased the number of intensive-care beds for patients with serious symptoms from eight to eleven. But those beds have been fully occupied.
The hospital has been seeing far fewer elderly patients as vaccination drives for the age group proceed. Now, the typical inpatient is someone in their 30s to 40s and suffers from chronic illness, such as diabetes.
Yokobori said that if the current situation continues, it could start drawing resources away from emergency medical care for other life-threatening diseases, including heatstroke and cerebral infarctions.
Showa University Hospital in Shinagawa Ward has set aside eight beds for patients with serious symptoms, but they have almost been fully occupied since last week.
"We're in dire straits," said the hospital's director Hironori Sagara. "We've found ourselves unable to accept some requests for hospitalization."
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