Yasutoshi Nishimura, the state minister in charge of economic revitalization, responds to questions on Dec. 16 at the Lower House Cabinet Committee. (Kotaro Ebara)
The “decisive” three-week period for bringing the COVID-19 situation under control ended, and the government has admitted defeat.
“Unfortunately, there has been no declining trend” in new infections, Yasutoshi Nishimura, the economic revitalization minister who is also the government’s point man in dealing with the novel coronavirus pandemic, said on Dec. 16, the end of that three-week period.
Government officials had said the period would be critical for halting the spread in novel coronavirus infections, and they deployed a concentrated package of measures. But the numbers around Japan have kept rising.
Health care workers from the Self-Defense Forces arrive at a temporary hospital for serious COVID-19 cases in Osaka’s Sumiyoshi Ward on Dec. 15. (Pool)
OSAKA An emergency hospital set up for COVID-19 patients in serious condition opened here on Dec. 15 with a medical staff cobbled together from the Self-Defense Forces and other sources.
The hospital began operating with five of the planned 30 beds as the prefecture’s hospitals to treat seriously ill coronavirus patients are nearing capacity.
As of the beginning of this month, Osaka prefectural officials could secure only about 50 nurses of a total of about 130 needed to staff the temporary facility.
Osaka opens center for seriously ill COVID-19 patients Sorry, but your browser needs Javascript to use this site. If you re not sure how to activate it, please refer to this site: https://www.enable-javascript.com/
Self-Defense Force nurses arrive at a new facility set up at Osaka General Medical Center for seriously ill COVID-19 patients on Tuesday. | POOL / VIA KYODO
Kyodo Dec 15, 2020
Osaka – A facility dedicated to coronavirus patients with serious symptoms opened Tuesday in Osaka, with the Self-Defense Forces as well as other regions of Japan sending nurses to make up for a staff shortage amid a recent spike in infections there.
SDF nurses sent to Osaka as virus surge overwhelms facilities japantoday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from japantoday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.