Due to abnormal heat, numerous heatstroke patients in Japan... 260 transported to hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area alone

As various regions around the world suffer from recent abnormal heatwaves, the Japanese archipelago has also been boiling with unprecedented heat since early July. The number of patients transported to hospitals due to heatstroke is also noticeably increasing.

According to NHK on the 5th, Matsusaka City in Mie Prefecture, located in the central-western part of Honshu, recorded a highest temperature of 39.7 degrees Celsius that day. Other highest temperatures included 38.9 degrees in Obama City, Fukui Prefecture, 38.0 degrees in Kuroshio Town, Kochi Prefecture, and 37.9 degrees in Koshu City, Yamanashi Prefecture.

The highest temperatures across Japan reported by NHK. Matsusaka City in Mie Prefecture recorded 39.7 degrees Celsius. (Photo by NHK)

The temperature in central Tokyo also rose to 35.5 degrees, triggering an emergency. The Tokyo Fire Department reported that by 3 p.m. that day, 55 people aged between 23 and 90 were transported to hospitals with suspected heatstroke symptoms. Among them, two people in their 70s were classified as severe cases requiring more than three weeks of treatment, 23 people aged 20 to 90 were moderate cases, and 30 people aged 20 to 90 were mild cases.

In Chiba Prefecture, part of the metropolitan area, 50 people were transported to hospitals by 4 p.m., and in Kanagawa Prefecture, 40 people were transported with similar symptoms. Among these, 26 were reported to be elderly aged 65 or older. In Saitama Prefecture, 66 people were also urgently transported to hospitals with suspected heatstroke, bringing the total number of people transported with heatstroke symptoms in the metropolitan area to about 260 on that day alone.

The Tokyo Fire Department urged caution, stating, "You should frequently replenish fluids before feeling thirsty and take measures such as using air conditioning or fans appropriately indoors."

On that day, out of 914 meteorological observation points nationwide in Japan, 162 locations recorded temperatures of 35 degrees or higher.

Last year, the average temperature in Japan from June to August exceeded the normal baseline by 1.76 degrees, marking the highest since related statistics began in 1898.