We had hoped Japan’s fourth wave would recede in time for the 2021 Olympic Games. For if the games do not go ahead in July, Bloomberg News warns this could ‘wipe out most of Japan’s 2021 growth’. However, the nation’s second largest city faces an uncertain healthcare future as news channel Reuters warns ‘no one’s safe anymore’. The ‘crumpling state’ of Osaka COVID-19 defenses is a worrying case in point it says.
Osaka’s Medical Resources Are Buckling (Reuters)
Osaka is Japan’s second largest metropolitan area. It has a population of 2.6 million, and an average density of 12,200 people per square mile. Now Reuters reports its hospitals are ‘running out of beds and ventilators as exhausted doctors warn of a system collapse’.
The metropole is the hub of Japan’s western region, where 7% of the national population lives. However, this 7% accounts for 65% of the overall death total. This does not bode well for additional pressure from the Olympics, Reuters says, as Osaka COVID-19 defenses approach breaking point.
‘Simply put, this is a collapse of the medical system,’ says Yuji Tohda, director of Kindai University Hospital in Osaka. ‘The highly infectious British variant, and slipping alertness have led to this explosive growth in the number of patients.’ To complicate matters further, only half Japan’s medical personnel have completed inoculations.
Raw Data Behind Osaka Crumbling COVID-19 Defenses
Osaka has taken the fourth COVID-19 wave particularly badly. Last week to Thursday, it reported 3,849 new positive tests. This is five times the situation three months ago.
Worryingly, only 14% of Osaka’s 13,770 COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized. This compares poorly with Tokyo’s 37% rate. Some 96% of the 348 hospital beds Osaka reserves for serious virus cases are currently in use, and there is little swing room.
Toshiaki Minami, director of Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University Hospital explains ‘The British variant can make even young people very sick quickly too. I believe that until now many young people thought they were invincible. But that can’t be the case this time around. Everyone is equally bearing the risk.’
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