Tokyo says the COVID-19 burden on hospitals is severe, making the warning the highest

TOKYO, December 17 (Reuters) – Japan’s capital Tokyo said on Thursday that the pressure on the medical system from the COVID-19 pandemic was severe, raising the alert level to the highest of four stages as hospital beds became full With increasing 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 patients, for the first time, ” Red “Medical Preparedness Alert”.

The number of positive cases in Tokyo hit a daily record of 678 cases on Wednesday, and the city raised its coronavirus warning of new infections – a separate category – to the highest level a month ago. It had kept its vigilance for medical readiness at the second highest level at the time, indicating that hospital capacity needs to be increased, but a notch below critical conditions. (Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; edited by Jacqueline Wong)

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