OSAKA: The western Japan prefecture of Osaka is facing a medical emergency ahead of the turn of the year as the resurgence of novel coronavirus infections puts hospitals under heavy strain.

The prefecture signaled early this month a “red light” over the COVID-19 situation, meaning an emergency under the prefecture’s own standards on assessing the epidemic.

The occupancy rate of hospital beds for severely ill patients remains at almost 80 percent, and some medical institutions have had to limit accepting patients in need of emergency aid and halt some medical examinations to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

Hospitals are especially concerned about a possible “fourth wave” of infection cases ahead of the New Year’s holiday period, when securing hospital beds becomes difficult.

At Osaka City Juso Hospital, a total of 32 doctors and nurses resigned after the institution was changed in May into a specialized hospital for coronavirus patients with mild symptoms.

It is receiving support mainly from university hospitals, but the number of beds in operation stands at 70, lower than planned.

With staff members overworked, the hospital began accepting applications for nurses. But an official involved in hiring is not optimistic about the chances of people applying for the role.

Ichiro Matsui, mayor of the city of Osaka, said on Dec. 11 that the city will award hospitals 10 million yen for every bed for coronavirus patients that they add during this month. The city government is seeking to relieve the burden on Juso Hospital by increasing the number of hospitals accepting coronavirus patients, and is looking to secure an additional 100 beds.

However, other hospitals in Osaka also face difficulties. Another hospital in the city, which is making efforts to accept emergency patients with fevers as much as possible, see many coronavirus cases.

The head of nursing service at the hospital complained of being unable to deliver sufficient care to patients, as those suspected of being infected with the coronavirus must be treated by a small number of people wearing protective gear.

The hospital is also struggling to find medical institutions that will accept coronavirus-positive patients, even when it contacts the prefectural department responsible for finding such institutions.

“This is something that was not seen in the first and second waves,” the hospital director said. “Medical collapse is already beginning and is progressing.”

According to the prefecture’s calculations, the occupancy rate of hospital beds is expected to remain high until early next year. The prefectural government plans to give medical institutions 200,000 yen for every coronavirus patient accepted during the New Year’s holiday period.

Osaka should envisage a situation in which the number of severely ill patients in the expected fourth wave from early next year reaches around 400, more than twice the current level, according to Kazunori Tomono, professor of Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine and head of the prefecture’s expert panel on the coronavirus crisis.

Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura is considering requesting that all roughly 500 hospitals in the prefecture start accepting coronavirus patients, compared with about 85 locations that currently have beds for such patients.

JIJI Press