Masaya Takahashi, the head of Tachikawa Sogo Hospital, looks over the medical records of a COVID-19 patient on July 23. (Naoko Kawamura)
Around 8 p.m. on July 23, as the Opening Ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics was getting under way, a hospital in the capital s western Tachikawa district began moving a COVID-19 patient with critical symptoms to its high care unit (HCU).
It seemed fitting that the Tachikawa Sogo Hospital chose that time of the evening to do so as it had long expressed its opposition to holding the sports extravaganza while Japan remains in the grip of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
利便性&防災力UP!越路・小国地域と長岡市街地を結ぶ『越路原バイパス』の東谷区間が開通!7月6日〜 : ながおか通信 7gaoka.jp - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from 7gaoka.jp Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Hospital head says opposing Olympics has become harder : The Asahi Shimbun asahi.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from asahi.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.