More than 50 percent of hospital beds that can maximally be available for COVID-19 patients had been occupied in 20 of 47 prefectures in Japan as of Wednesday, the health ministry said Friday.

An occupancy rate of 50 pct or higher for hospital beds that can be available for COVID-19 patients during the infection peak indicates that the coronavirus situation has reached Stage 4, the worst level on the country’s scale of alert.

The 20 prefectures are Fukushima, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, Ishikawa, Nagano, Gifu, Aichi, Mie, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, Okayama, Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Okinawa.

The number of coronavirus patients treated at home rose by some 5,000 to 35,394, indicating that the country’s medical capacity remains stretched two weeks after the government declared its second state of emergency over the epidemic.

The bed occupancy rate was highest in Hyogo, at 79.1 pct, followed by Osaka, at 74.2 pct, Tokyo, at 73.9 pct, and Okinawa, 68.2 pct.

The occupancy rate for beds for severely ill COVID-19 patients stood at 107.0 pct in Tokyo, 64.5 pct in Osaka, 57.5 pct in Hyogo and 56.6 pct in Okinawa, the ministry said.

JIJI Press