TOKYO, Dec 17 (Reuters) – The Japanese capital of Tokyo said on Thursday that the tension in its medical system over the COVID-19 pandemic was severe, raising its alert level to the highest of the four stages, already that hospital beds were filled with growing infections.
At a meeting of the coronavirus monitoring committee attended by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, a health official said it had become difficult to balance the care of COVID-19 patients with regular ones, assigning a “red” alert for medical preparation for the first time.
The number of positive cases in Tokyo reached a daily record of 678 cases on Wednesday, and the city a month ago raised the coronavirus alert for new infections (a separate category) to the highest level. He had kept the medical readiness alert at the second highest level at the time, indicating the need to increase hospital capacity, but a level below critical conditions. (Report by Chang-Ran Kim; edited by Jacqueline Wong)