COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in Okinawa Prefecture, with 48.39 cases reported per medical institution during the weeklong period of June 26-July. Thus, representing the highest figures across the nation.
Hospital bed usage in the prefecture had risen to 78% as of Wednesday. “If the infection spreads nationwide, there’s a risk of the nation’s medical care system becoming strained. As said a member of an advisory body to the Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry at a meeting on Friday.
According to the Okinawa prefectural government, there were an estimated 12,260 cases in the prefecture. Thus, surpassing the 10,472 cases registered during the peak of the eighth wave of the coronavirus (from Jan. 2-8), when all cases were reported under a related law.
At Okinawa Hokubu Hospital in Nago, the 25 beds secured for COVID-19 patients have remained almost fully occupied. As forcing the hospital to use beds in a general ward.
An increase in the number of medical staff unable to come to work due to personal or family-related infection has made it difficult for the hospital to maintain its normal system operations.