Where COVID-19 Is Putting a Strain on Japanese Hospitals

With daily new coronavirus cases still upwards of 1,000, Japan remains on high alert. Tokyo and surrounding areas have once more been put under a state of emergency order due to the second wave of COVID-19 in the country.

Tokyo reported on February 3 that 60 percent of hospital beds that could serve COVID-19 patients were taken up by them, down from 73 percent on January 27. Fukuoka prefecture saw the highest occupancy rate at 89 percent (up from 84 percent), followed by Okinawa at 82 percent.

ICU beds in Tokyo were already over capacity at 107 percent (down from 113 percent) while ICUs in Hyogo, Osaka, Saitama and Okinawa reported between 50 and 65 percent occupancy by coronavirus patients. This is according to numbers from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare published by national broadcaster NHK.

In general, the highest COVID-19 occupancy rates could be found in populous prefectures in central Japan, like the Tokyo and Osaka regions, but also in rural and far-flung places with low hospitals capacities, like Okinawa and Kagoshima.