The



number of patients with the new coronavirus

that "has to refuse to accept patients"

is increasing faster than hospitals in various regions are increasing the number of beds, and the situation is becoming unacceptable.



The number of cases in which emergency patients became “difficult to transport” reached 2,897 per week, the second highest since the survey began.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reports on 52 fire departments nationwide, including the fire department where the prefectural office is located, as "cases where transportation is difficult", such as cases where there were four or more inquiries to the hospital before the destination of the patient was decided. Based on that, it is summarized every week.

In the week leading up to August 8, there were 2897 cases, an increase of 521 cases from the previous week, the fifth consecutive week of increase.



Since April last year, when the comparative survey was started, it was the highest number, the second highest after 3317 cases in mid-January.

By region,


▽ Tokyo Fire Department jurisdiction 1532 cases (+240 cases compared to the previous week)


▽ Yokohama City Fire Department 267 cases (+107 cases compared to the previous week)


▽ Chiba City Fire Department 115 cases (+39 cases compared to the previous week)


▽ Kawasaki The number of cases in the city fire department is 84 (up 37 cases from the previous week), and the


increase is conspicuous in the metropolitan area.



In addition,


▽ Sapporo City Fire Department has 121 cases (+5 cases from the previous week)


▽ Osaka City Fire Department has 279 cases (+44 cases from the previous week)


▽ Fukuoka City Fire Department has 45 cases (+26 cases from the previous week)


.



Of these, the number of cases suspected of being infected with the new coronavirus, such as having a body temperature of 37 degrees or higher and having dyspnea, is increasing rapidly, with 1387 cases in the week leading up to the 8th of this month and the week leading up to the previous week (1387 cases). It was about 1.4 times that of 991).

Hospital "I have to refuse acceptance"

Kanagawa Prefecture is one of the areas where beds are tight.



As of the 11th, the number of inpatients was 1344, which is about 2.7 times that of a month ago.



The number of cases in which people who were initially mild or asymptomatic deteriorated rapidly increased, and the usage rate of ready-to-use beds increased to 79%.



Among them, the number of seriously ill patients is 182, which is the largest number so far, and the bed usage rate is 97%, which is almost full.



Hospitals around the world are increasing the number of beds, but the number of patients is increasing much faster and it is unacceptable.

By the 11th, the Saiseikai Yokohama City Eastern Hospital in Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama had increased the number of corona beds to 28, including the critical care center.



However, a series of calls for acceptance began in the morning, and the increased number of beds soon filled up, requiring 11 requests to be declined during the day alone.

The impact extends to emergency medical care other than the new Corona.



Since the treatment of the new corona requires manpower, the number of emergency patients other than corona that can be accepted at the center is less than half of the usual number, and there are cases where patients such as traffic accidents and sudden illnesses cannot be received. That is.

Masayuki Shimizu, Director of the Critical Care Center


"We are in a situation where we have to refuse to accept patients. The hospital has increased the number of beds to the maximum, and we have not yet seen the peak of the spread of infection, so what will we do in the future? I'm worried about doing it. "

"I have nowhere to go"

In Kanagawa Prefecture, if a new corona patient cannot be found in the area or if it deteriorates during home medical treatment, the 24-hour Medical Crisis Countermeasures Headquarters established at the prefectural office is looking for a recipient throughout the prefecture. ..



However, the number of patients accepted by each hospital on the whiteboard is lined with zeros.



In particular, the beds for severe cases were almost full, and on the 11th, the doctor in charge was looking for a hospital that would accept a man in his 50s who had become severely ill, and kept calling.



The number of patients who could not be hospitalized on the same day was close to 100 on many days, and even those who were hospitalized two months ago are being treated at home as much as possible. It's called.



The doctor in charge said,


"Severely ill patients basically have nowhere to go. The current situation is that they call many times a day and somehow get accepted in a vacant place. Let's do our best at home a little more. "