In the fifth wave of the new coronavirus this summer, there were a number of cases where the beds secured by medical institutions were not actually used, so the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is trying to connect to the efficient operation of beds for each medical institution. We have begun efforts to announce the number of beds we have secured in Japan.
It was the peak of the spread of the new corona infection, and in September, medical institutions reported that they had a total of more than 39,000 beds nationwide, but in reality due to a shortage of medical personnel, etc. So to speak, "sleeping beds" that were not used occurred one after another, and the usage rate of the beds was only 68% on average.
For this reason, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has begun an initiative to announce the number of beds secured as of the 1st of this month at approximately 2,300 medical institutions nationwide in order to lead to the efficient operation of beds.
In addition, we will announce the number of patients actually hospitalized and the number of beds that can be accepted immediately for each medical institution within the year.
We will also post the reasons for medical institutions with low bed usage and update this information every month.
Through this initiative, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has set a goal of using a bed of 80% or more when the infection spreads. I want to connect it to practical operations. "