As Tokyo is facing a potential shortage of sickbeds for people infected with the new coronavirus, the Tokyo metropolitan government has decided to introduce measures including leasing hotels within its jurisdiction as temporary accommodations for COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms and asking those infected to stay at home to recuperate.
The metropolitan government has already reached an agreement with some hotel operators and aims to eventually secure around 1,000 rooms.
Meanwhile, the metropolitan government confirmed Thursday that a record 97 people tested positive for the virus. As a result, the total of those infected increased to 684, urging the metropolitan government to seek new methods to secure enough sickbeds.
According to the metropolitan government, the number of people currently hospitalized for COVID-19 reached 628 on Thursday. These people occupy 90% of the approximately 700 available sickbeds for infected patients.
Since many of the inpatients show only mild symptoms, the metropolitan government recognized the need to transfer them from the hospitals to other facilities to make room for patients with severe symptoms who require intensive care.
The central government's panel of experts considering countermeasures for the virus advised the government on Wednesday to examine options for patients with mild symptoms who don't require hospitalization to be accommodated in places other than their homes.
The Tokyo metropolitan government, while considering the option of letting such patients recuperate at home, is also aware that such patients may infect their family members or people with whom they cohabitate, and has therefore decided to use hotels as a safer means of accommodation.
According to a person related to the matter, those to be transferred to hotels are those who have tested positive for the virus but are confirmed to require no hospitalization after a doctor's examination. To prevent the spread of infection in the hotels, the metropolitan government is planning to rent the buildings in their entirety and has confirmed that it has several hundred rooms have already been secured.
"The measure will not only prevent a collapse of medical services but also help support the hotel industry, which is feared to financially struggle due to postponement of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games," said a senior official of Tokyo's government.
According to the metropolitan government, the 97 people whose infection was confirmed on Thursday include 21 from a cluster at Eiju General Hospital in Taito Ward, Tokyo, as well as a few from Keio University Hospital in Shinjuku Ward, indicating that the problem of group infections at medical institutions is becoming serious.
"The new figure is approaching a three-digit number. This is far too many," Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike told reporters Thursday, showing great concern.
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