December 15th Osaka Federation of Democratic Medical Institutions reported that a patient diagnosed with COVID-19 died while waiting for the hospital bed.
At present, the use rate of special beds for severe patients in Osaka is close to 80%, and patients need to wait 5 to 13 days to wait for the hospital bed.
According to Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun on the 15th, the deceased patient was a man in his 80s who suffered from a basic disease. He was hospitalized with a fever on November 25 and diagnosed with COVID-19 on the 26th.
His hospital did not have a special bed, so he entrusted the government to find other hospitals, but after waiting for five days, the man died of respiratory insufficiency on the 30th.
The director of his hospital said that after the beginning of the third wave of the epidemic in Osaka, severe patients had to wait 5 to 13 days before transferring to hospitals with specialized beds. In addition, the medical staff in Osaka have also been understaffed.
The Japanese Self-Defense Forces have sent medical teams to support and participate in the treatment of an increasing number of critically ill patients.
