A recent surge of COVID infections has led to higher death rates in Japan, which has one of the oldest populations in the world. Japan currently classifies COVID as a serious category 2 disease, meaning patients must be treated at specialized facilities.

The rapid increase of patients during the wave that started in October, though, has forced COVID-designated hospitals to turn patients away, Research Director Kenji Shibuya told Bloomberg. “The number of emergency transports by ambulance increased, placing a heavy burden on designated hospitals already lacking manpower as medical professionals also got infected,” Shibuya said.

“Communities can’t respond quickly enough to elderly people whose underlying conditions worsened because of COVID,” he said, calling for the classification to be quickly downgraded so more hospitals can treat the infected.

“Covid’s Quiet Creep in Japan Fuels Its Deadliest Outbreak Yet,” Bloomberg
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/covid-deaths-soar-among-japans-elderly-omicron-rips-nursing/

Profile of Research Director Kenji Shibuya
https://www.tokyofoundation.org/experts/detail.php?id=653