The corona situation in the Paralympic city of Tokyo is becoming more and more serious. A team of government experts compared the infection situation in the capital on Thursday with a disaster that was "out of control", as Japanese media reported. The professionals warned that medical care, including normal patients, is in danger of collapsing. On Thursday, Tokyo, which is currently in an emergency until August 31, registered 4,989 new infections. This is the second highest level of new infections so far. The number of patients with severe symptoms rose to a maximum of 218 cases.
After the Summer Games that ended on Sunday, Tokyo plans to open the Paralympics on August 24th, which should last until September 5th.
At the Olympic Games, spectators were excluded from almost all competitions due to the corona situation.
How this will be handled at the Paralympics has not yet been decided.
Given the alarming rise in infections in Tokyo, the experts called for the amount of people on the streets to be halved compared to the beginning of July.
Places that are particularly at risk, such as the grocery departments located in the basement of large department stores, would have to use stricter measures to limit the number of customers.
With the number of people in need of medical care rising, government experts called for support from hospitals in other prefectures as well. The health system cannot be maintained if the current infection situation continues, it said. It is not only more and more difficult for hospitals to admit corona patients whose condition has deteriorated at home. But also emergency patients who are otherwise ill or injured.