New corona How to count the number of severely ill people 8 Aggregate based on different standards in each prefecture from 19:07 on August 20
NHK has found that there are eight prefectures in the municipality that are counting the number of severe cases infected with the new coronavirus that differ from the national standards. It is clear that there are differences in the number of severely ill persons, which is an important indicator in determining the infection status of the new coronavirus, depending on the region.
In April, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare notified the prefectures all over Japan of the total number of people infected with the new coronavirus and were seriously injured. I asked to report a person who falls into any of the following, or whether an artificial heart-lung machine called "ECMO" is needed.
When NHK asked the prefectures etc. how to count the number of seriously ill persons through broadcasting stations in various places, it was found that 8 prefectures were counting according to a method different from the national standard.
Of these, in 5 prefectures, Shizuoka prefecture, Shiga prefecture, Kyoto prefecture, Kochi prefecture, and Fukuoka prefecture, those who are using the ventilator or "ECMO" are not considered to be seriously ill just because they are in the intensive care unit. Are reported as critically ill.
The reasons for this include that patients in the intensive care unit are not necessarily severely ill.
Tokyo also counted only those who are using a ventilator or "ECMO" because all patients in the intensive care unit are not necessarily seriously ill, but in the future, in addition to this, it will also be counted by national standards, I will report it.
In addition to this, Ibaraki and Wakayama prefectures have also calculated and published results that differ from the national standards, but in addition to this, they also report according to the national standards.
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare "report by national standards"
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, in response to the fact that some prefectures calculated the number of people infected with the new coronavirus and became seriously ill by a standard different from that of the national government, We will make it known again within 20 days to report according to the standard. The latest number of "severely ill" by prefecture will be announced on the 21st.
Minister Nishimura "Announcement Again"
Nishimura, Minister for Economic Recovery, said at a press conference, "The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare notified each local government on April 26, clarified the definition of the severely ill, and requested an investigation report. In order to protect the lives of severely ill people, it is important to accurately grasp the numbers and secure a medical care provision system that responds appropriately to the situation. We will work to make them known.”
In addition, Minister Nishimura revealed that from 10:30 am on the 21st, expert subcommittee meetings of the government will be held to discuss the analysis of infection status and the ideal way of vaccination.
The breakout session will be held again on the 24th day of the week, and we will consider whether to relax the restrictions on event holding until the end of August.
Not all ICU patients in Tokyo are necessarily severe
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government explains that not all patients infected with the new coronavirus in the intensive care unit in Tokyo are not necessarily seriously ill.
The reason for this is that patients who are not seriously ill are treated in the intensive care unit due to the availability of beds and differences in operation methods at that time. It is because there is a hospital.
Also, due to the spread of the epidemic, there are hospitals that dedicate the intensive care unit to patients infected with the new coronavirus regardless of the severity of their symptoms.
In addition, if a person with another illness becomes infected with the new coronavirus, there are cases where the symptoms of another illness become severe and enter the intensive care unit.
In addition, some patients are treated with general beds instead of intensive care units even if they are equipped with a ventilator.
For this reason, the metropolitan area counts only patients who are using a ventilator or an artificial heart-lung machine called "ECMO" as "severely ill" regardless of whether they are in the intensive care unit or not. ..
In addition, Miyako says that if severely ill patients stop using ventilators and “ECMO”, they can be said to be recovering objectively.
For this reason, the city says that the city's standards based on the status of the introduction of medical devices are objective and clear.
Governor of Koike "Providing information based on national standards"
Governor Koike said, ``Because the country says so, we will provide information to the country in that direction,'' about being required to report severe cases of new coronavirus in Tokyo based on national standards. It was.
On the other hand, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will continue to use it as an index for monitoring without changing the existing Tokyo standards, and will announce it daily as a critically ill person in Tokyo.
Regarding this, Governor Koike said, ``As a method to make the most of the medical facilities in the field, the experts analyze the medical equipment and the situation of each patient rather than the place of the intensive care unit and continue monitoring. We provide information to the government once a week, but we monitor the city every day. We will continue to monitor the situation by giving top priority to the situation at the site."
Tokyo Medical Association "What you are trying to see is different"
Masataka Inoguchi, Vice Chairman of the Tokyo Metropolitan Medical Association, said, "The indicators in Tokyo were decided in order to look at the situation of the medical service system in Tokyo. For seriously severely ill patients, It is used to predict what kind of medical care provision system should be built in the future and to create a strategy that matches it."
And regarding the inclusion of patients in ICU as critically ill as in the national standards, "The number of ICU patients in Tokyo is not necessarily counting the number of seriously ill patients. I think it is necessary to grasp the number of seriously ill persons by the index of Tokyo and to estimate the future in order to count the number of patients who are in danger of death.
In that ue
, regarding the national standard, "When the country follows the whole country and its medical system is very urgent, it is used to decide where to support compared to other local governments. Which one? I don't think it's good or bad, but what I'm trying to see is different."
"It is necessary to calculate the number of seriously ill persons based on the unified standard"
Atsuro Hamada of Tokyo Medical University, who is familiar with infectious diseases, said, ``Since the country uses the severity of the beds of severely ill people as an index of the epidemic stage, we will use the standard of prefectures to determine the number of severely ill people. Isn't that necessary? I think it's less desirable to have different standards."
After that, "What does it mean to be in the ICU? What kind of definition is needed? It is better for each prefecture to accurately calculate the number of people. What is the definition of the number of seriously ill persons? I think it is better for the country to provide a detailed definition."
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, there are 237 severely ill persons who have been confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus and are being treated in ventilators and intensive care units as of the 20th.
This number means that the country counts based on information published by the local government.
On the other hand, there are 45,266 people infected domestically and 659 passengers/crew members on cruise ships, for a total of 45,925 people who have been discharged due to symptom improvement.
Also, on the 18th of this month, there were 18,957 preliminary PCR tests performed on a preliminary basis.