Japan Will focus on treating critically ill patients Coronavirus disease Officials said the medical system was strained due to fears that the surge in cases Olympic Games Host city Tokyo.
The country’s coronavirus cases have increased dramatically, with more than 10,000 new infections every day across the country. Tokyo hit a record high of 4,058 on Saturday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters that fewer and fewer elderly people are infected, and most of them have been vaccinated.
“On the other hand, the infection rate among young people is increasing, and people in their 40s and 50s with severe symptoms are increasing,” he said. “Because some people were admitted to the hospital due to heatstroke, some people could not be admitted to the hospital immediately and are recovering at home.”
With the release of record cases in Tokyo, Thailand, and Malaysia, the COVID-19 resurgence hits Asia
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the change on Monday. He said the government will ensure that people isolated at home can be hospitalized if necessary.
The previous policy focused on hospitalization of a wider range of high-risk patients.
Some people worry that this change may lead to more deaths. Yukio Edano, the leader of the opposition Japanese Cadet Party, slammed the change.
NHK Public Television quoted him as saying: “They call it treatment at home, but they actually give up treatment at home.”
Japan on Monday extended its state of emergency to three prefectures near Tokyo and Osaka prefecture in the west. The existing emergency in Tokyo — the fourth time since the pandemic began — and Okinawa will now last until August 31.
The country avoided a devastating outbreak of the virus. As of Sunday, the total number of cases in the country was approximately 932,000, and the death toll was slightly more than 15,000.
But it is now working hard to control the highly disseminated Delta variant, even if the public is increasingly tired of their activities being mainly voluntary restrictions and the launch of vaccination is lagging behind.
Less than 30% of the population is fully vaccinated, and three-quarters of the population aged 65 and over are vaccinated.
Data from Tokyo shows that as of Sunday, nearly 70% of COVID-19 severely ill patients have full beds.
According to the Ministry of Health guidelines, critically ill patients are defined as patients who need to be admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) or artificial respirator.
According to the Tokyo Shimbun, 12,000 patients were quarantined at home, a 12-fold increase from the previous month.
According to Suga Yoshihide and the Olympic organizers, July 23 to August. 8 The Summer Olympics and cases have increased dramatically. However, medical experts say that hosting the Olympics sends a confusing message that the need to stay at home has led to an increase in the number of people.
Unlike voluntary restrictions and low vaccination rates elsewhere in Japan, more than 80% of athletes and coaches in the Tokyo Olympic Village are vaccinated, testing is mandatory, and movement is restricted.
Organizers announced 18 new COVID-19 cases related to the Olympics on Tuesday, bringing the total since July 1 to 294.
(Additional reporting by Ritsuko Ando and Kaori Kaneko. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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