[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] It has been revealed that 80% of Japan's COVID-19 deaths occurred after the third wave, which began in earnest in November last year.
According to the Asahi Shimbun on the 5th, excluding infections confirmed at the entry stage such as passengers on the cruise ship "Diamond Princess," where a cluster infection occurred in February last year, the total number of COVID-19 deaths in Japan reached 9,173 by the end of March this year. Among them, 7,404, or 80.7%, died after November last year.
November last year marked the start of the third wave, when daily confirmed cases surged again to the 1,000 range.
About three-quarters of the deaths during the third wave occurred in eight metropolitan areas: Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Aichi, Osaka, Hyogo, and Hokkaido.
By age group, those aged 60 and over accounted for 96%, with elderly people aged 80 and above making up 67%.
The sharp increase in deaths during the third wave is mainly attributed to the spread of infections in elderly care facilities and medical institutions.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, as of the end of March this year, there were 1,176 cluster infection cases in elderly facilities and 992 in medical institutions involving two or more people.
Compared to the cumulative figures until the end of October last year, before the start of the third wave, cluster infections in elderly facilities increased fivefold, and those in medical institutions tripled.
On the other hand, cluster infection cases in restaurants numbered 1,064, which was about double.
The Asahi Shimbun cited experts analyzing this as "revealing the limitations of infection control measures focused on restaurants."
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