Japanese health care facilities stretched thin

In this April 8, 2020 photo provided by Naohiro Katsuta, people wait for their test results for the coronavirus at temporary beds made with cardboard boxes at Narita International Airport in Narita, near Tokyo. Cardboard boxes are being readied at Tokyo’s Narita international airport for quarantine as arriving people wait for test results for the coronavirus. Shotaro Tajima, a Japanese Health Ministry official in the contagious diseases section, said people are now at nearby hotels and have not had to stay in the boxes. If cases grow, people may need to wait longer for test results, which usually come back within several hours. Japan is requiring tests for people who fly in from dozens of nations, including the U.S., China, and Italy. (Naohiro Katsuta via AP)

TOKYO — Japanese health care facilities are getting stretched thin amid a surge in coronavirus patients.

The Japanese Association for Acute Medicine and the Japanese Society for Emergency Medicine, representing such professionals, issued a joint statement recently warning about a “collapse of emergency medicine,” which may lead to the collapse of medicine overall.

The statement said many hospitals were turning away people rushed by ambulance, including those suffering strokes, heart attacks, and external injuries. Some people who were turned away later turned out to have the coronavirus.

Masks and surgical gowns were running short, the statement said.

Japan has nearly 7,000 COVID-19 cases and about 100 deaths, but the numbers are growing. The government has declared a state of emergency, asking people to stay home.

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