With the "eighth wave" of the spread of the new coronavirus, university hospitals in Tokyo are filling up with beds for moderate and severe cases, making it difficult to accept new patients, including general emergency care.
On-site doctors are calling for thorough infection control, saying that the medical system will be even more tight over the year-end and New Year holidays.
Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, has secured 30 beds for severe and moderate corona patients and is treating them, but the beds began to fill up last week, and as of the beginning of this week, the beds were full. It means that
Since it became difficult to accept new patients, the hospital added six new beds for patients with moderate illness on the 23rd, but it is expected that it will be almost filled within the 23rd due to a series of requests for transportation.
Six beds for severely ill patients were also full as of last week, but on the morning of the 23rd, a temporary bed was prepared and one new patient was accepted.
It has become difficult to accept emergency patients with a high degree of urgency other than corona, and the patients who were transported by ambulance on the morning of the 23rd did not have any vacant beds, so after finishing the examination, they returned to the ambulance and waited. was given.
Yutaka Ueki, assistant director of the hospital, said, "The number of hospitalized patients is about the same as the peak of the past wave of infections, and the front line is approaching the limit. It is expected that the number will be even tighter towards the end of the year. I want you to take thorough measures and cooperate in reducing the burden on hospitals."