Health

Tokyo to open new COVID-19 hospital as infections soar

Tokyo, Nov 27 (efe-epa).- Tokyo will open in mid-December a hospital for COVID-19 patients, while contagion increase in the region, which posted a new daily record of 570 cases Friday.

The hospital, a renovated healthcare facility in the capital’s west, will treat patients with mild or moderate symptoms and open Dec. 16 as part of the Tama Metropolitan Medical Center, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Authorities said 32 of the 100 beds available in the hospital will be used, one of the few that will accept elderly patients, needing nursing care, and foreign nationals who cannot speak Japanese or English.

Tama’s facilities will be the second exclusively dedicated to COVID-19 in Tokyo after the opening of the Tokai University Hospital, located in the Shibuya district, with about 60 beds.

News about the opening came as Tokyo registered a new infection record in the region.

The previous highest count was recorded Nov. 21, when the capital reported 539 cases.

Tokyo is the Japanese region most affected by the pandemic, registering more than 39,600 of the almost 140,000 infections recorded nationwide since Jan. 16.

Monthly cases for November rose to 8,567 – the highest to date – exceeding the 8,125 recorded in August, according to preliminary figures from local authorities.

A recent increase in infections led Toyko Governor Yuriko Koike to ask part of the hospitality sector to reduce business hours from Sat. 28, until Dec. 17 in an effort to stop the spread. EFE-EPA

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