As result of government indifference and inaction, Japan’s emergency medical system has collapsed as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to surge in the country.
The number of confirmed cases is now 12,368, while 321 have died. With widespread denial of testing to suspected patients, the real numbers are undoubtedly far higher.
The Health Ministry has warned that as many as 400,000 people could die if no preventative measures are taken. Japan lacks a sufficient quantity of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds, with an average of 5 per 100,000 people compared to 12 in Italy and 35 in the United States. This is a clear warning that deaths may skyrocket as seen in Italy.
It is not just coronavirus patients who are being affected. Hospitals are refusing to treat people, including those suffering from other serious ailments such as strokes and heart disease. Women are also struggling to find places to give birth. Hospitals unequipped to deal with the virus fear it will be transmitted to new patients, but the denial of treatment is also because of a lack of hospital beds.
As in other countries, medical workers lack personal protective equipment, including gowns, masks and face shields. Doctors and nurses are forced to re-use masks or create make-shift gowns out of raincoats.
That the Shinzo Abe government sat back and essentially did nothing for two months while the pandemic raged in other countries means that his government is guilty of nothing less than social murder. Testing was greatly restricted to give the impression that the number of COVID-19 cases in Japan was low and that additional lifesaving measures were not necessary.
— source wsws.org | 24 Apr 2020