[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] As the number of COVID-19 patients rapidly increases in Japan, leading to a shortage of hospital beds, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on the 3rd issued guidelines to the prefectures (metropolitan governments) instructing that mild patients be accommodated in hotels or rest at home. In Tokyo, where confirmed cases are rapidly rising, hotels are being prepared to accommodate mild patients.
According to NHK and other sources on the 3rd, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare notified all 47 prefectures to consider having mild and asymptomatic confirmed COVID-19 patients stay in facilities prepared by local governments or hotels, or recuperate at home in areas where infections are spreading. Until now, even mild COVID-19 patients were hospitalized as a principle to prevent further spread of infection. However, as medical institutions have become insufficient in areas with rapidly increasing infections such as Tokyo and Osaka, this guideline was issued.
The Ministry requested each local government to prepare accommodations capable of housing mild patients. However, elderly people and pregnant women among mild patients who are at high risk of becoming severe are excluded from home or accommodation facility care. Accommodation or public facilities for mild patients are to be secured by building or floor units, and staff capable of providing meals must be secured.
For those recuperating at home, if they live with elderly people, living spaces must be completely separated. The Ministry also requested local governments to monitor the health status of home care patients by phone or other means and to establish a system that allows prompt medical examination at medical institutions if symptoms worsen.
In Tokyo, the area with the fastest increase in confirmed cases in Japan, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is discussing securing about 1,000 hotel rooms to accommodate mild COVID-19 patients. On the previous day, 97 new COVID-19 infections were confirmed in Tokyo, raising the cumulative number of infections to 684.
The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that excluding discharged patients, there are currently 628 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Tokyo, filling about 90% of the approximately 700 hospital beds. Accordingly, Tokyo plans to discharge mild patients, who make up the majority of hospitalized patients, and transfer them to hotels or other facilities to secure beds for severe patients requiring intensive care. A Tokyo official stated about this plan, "It not only prevents medical collapse but also supports the hotel industry, which is facing management difficulties due to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics."
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also stated at the House of Councillors plenary session on the same day, "We will accelerate the establishment of a medical provision system focused on medical care for severe patients in preparation for the surge in infections." Earlier, the expert panel established by the Japanese government for COVID-19 response proposed on the 1st that mild patients who do not require hospitalization should stay at home or in facilities outside hospitals to prevent medical collapse.
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