Dec 17, 2020 (Japan Times) - Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike raised the capital’s health care alert system to its highest level on Thursday, sounding the alarm just hours before the city reported a record-breaking 822 new cases of the novel coronavirus.
The nationwide tally of new cases also hit a record, with media reports putting the figure over 3,100 as of Thursday evening.
This is the first time Tokyo has reached the fourth level of its alert system, indicating that officials and experts on the metropolitan government’s task force believe hospitals are being overwhelmed and could soon struggle to provide treatment to patients other than those infected with COVID-19.
“Tokyo’s health care system is approaching capacity,†Koike said Thursday. “Hospitals are clogged, and could soon lose the ability to perform basic functions at a critical time of the year.â€
The capital raised a separate alert system in November meant to gauge the severity of the outbreak to its fourth and highest level — signifying that officials believe infections are spreading — following a nationwide spike in new infections that began in late October.
Tokyo officials said that, as of Wednesday, 1,960 — or 65% — of 3,000 beds available for coronavirus patients were occupied. Additionally, 69 of the 200 beds for coronavirus patients experiencing severe symptoms were in use.
Tokyo has reported more than 49,000 total infections and 557 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. In terms of daily new cases, the capital has reset its record multiple times in the past week having reported 678 on Wednesday and 621 on Saturday.
Source: ANNnewsCH
