For most of May, the 500-bed hospital had sat empty. After the outbreak, it halted nearly all outpatient services. Doctors and nurses were required to spend two weeks at home, monitoring for symptoms before they could return to work.
Now, as the country emerges from a state of emergency, hospitals like Seibu face the prospect of operating in the shadow of a virus with no treatment or cure.
"We can never have an outbreak again like the one we experienced," said Masui, an emergency doctor who has been charged with the hospital's coronavirus response. "What we learned is that this can truly happen anywhere.
Doctors and nurses at Seibu were among the first to mobilize for the pandemic in Japan, accepting sick passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in February.
After treating dozens of coronavirus patients, a man with no fever and no other obvious symptoms was carried into the emergency room in early April. The man was kept in a room with another patient before he was discharged to another facility. By the time the staff learned in late April the man had the virus, it had already spread to other wings of the hospital.
A Japanese research team says the "Go To" travel campaign launched last July may have contributed to the spread of the coronavirus in its initial phase.
(NHK)
Automakers in Japan, where almost 30% of the population is 65 or older, are taking the lead on adapting cars so the nation's legions of elderly drivers can feel more confident -- and be safer -- behind the wheel.
(nwaonline.com)
Japan's space agency has allowed the media to see the first and second stages of the country's next mainstay H3 rocket.
(NHK)
An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 occurred late at night on Saturday 23 January 2021 at 10:12 pm local time near Iwaki, Iwaki-shi, Fukushima, Japan, as reported by NIED. (JS Media)
The source of nocturia, frequent nighttime urination, the number one problem for many seniors, is not what you think it could be! (NHK)
We as a whole know how simple it is to get exhausted at work, get up to speed in the mood of the day, extended periods in the workplace, and nothing new.
(newsonjapan.com)
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. said Thursday it has begun clinical trials in Japan of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate by U.S. biotech firm Moderna Inc. with an eye to distributing it in the first half of this year. (Kyodo)
Tough border testing for New Zealand honey imports to Japan is re-igniting the conversation about the use of the weed killer glypohsate in New Zealand. (rnz.co.nz)
Japan's government has signed a contract with US pharmaceutical firm Pfizer to receive about 144 million doses of coronavirus vaccine for 72 million people this year.
(NHK)
People in many parts of Japan have reported seeing what appeared to be a fireball flashing through the sky on Wednesday night.
(NHK)
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says about 20 percent of people confirmed infected with the new coronavirus in recent months were asymptomatic when they tested positive.
(NHK)
Indeed, Netflix is among the most prominent online streaming services. (newsonjapan.com)
Skyrocketing numbers of people on waiting lists for hospitalization underline how officials are now being forced to limit medical care to the most critically ill COVID-19 patients amid bed shortages, with the vast majority of less urgent cases consigned into unsupervised home care. (Japan Times)
Researchers from the Keio University Graduate School of Media Design in Tokyo have created a robotic tail for humans. (Strange Things)
Japan's health ministry says three people in the country have been confirmed to be infected with a new strain of the coronavirus now prevalent in Britain. (NHK)
Japanese experts are warning the current wave of coronavirus infections is putting increasing strain on the medical system in the capital.
(NHK)
An expert warns that Tokyo has been experiencing an unprecedentedly rapid increase in new cases of the coronavirus and explosive growth could occur.
(NHK)
Japan is working to isolate and analyse a new variant of the coronavirus detected in four people who arrived from Brazil, a health ministry official said Tuesday. (FRANCE 24 English)
The number of people infected with seasonal flu in Japan continues to remain dramatically below that of the average year.
(NHK)
One of the world's largest technology-trade fairs has kicked off. The "Consumer Electronics Show" normally attracts over 100,000 visitors who crowd into a venue in Las Vegas. (NHK)