Covid - 19 Patients Taken To Hospital For Emergency Care Surging In Tokyo
Amid Japan's seventh wave of infections, the Tokyo Fire Department is reporting a surge in the number of cases of people being taken to hospital by ambulance after becoming unwell due to the coronavirus.
The department says the number of such cases during the week through Sunday was 725. The patients who were transported to hospital were recuperating at home or elsewhere.
The figure was up more than 30 percent from the preceding week. It also exceeded 706, the sixth wave's highest weekly number.
Department officials say ambulance crews are finding it more difficult to promptly find hospitals with available beds.
The officials say it took more than one hour for patients to be admitted to hospital in 89 percent of the 725 cases. The number of cases in which it took over five hours was 84 -- more than quadruple the previous week's figure.
During the same seven-day period, there were 852 cases in which people who had called an ambulance were not taken to hospital. This was due to decisions by health authorities or other reasons.
In recent weeks, ambulances are also often being called to transport people with suspected heatstroke symptoms. The Tokyo Fire Department says it will continue to work with relevant organizations to deal with the situation.