May 03 (Kyodo) - Cases of hospitals in Japan turning away patients on ambulance transports, mostly because they are suspected of being infected with the new coronavirus, increased more than fivefold in April from a year earlier, a survey by Kyodo News showed Saturday.
The survey underscores how the virus is also affecting the scene of emergency care, with medical facilities increasingly wary of in-hospital infections due to COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, making it harder for general patients with such symptoms to get the proper treatment.
The number of emergency cases in which medical institutions were asked four or more times whether they can accept patients with symptoms typical of COVID-19 such as fever and difficulty in breathing between April 1 and 27 jumped to 2,705 from 483 in the same period in 2019, according to the survey.
Data were available from the Tokyo Fire Department and 31 prefectural capitals' fire departments out of the country's 47 prefectures. Fire departments are in charge of ambulance transport services in Japan.
