The Fire and Disaster Management Agency says that 8,603 people were transported to hospital nationwide to be treated for symptoms of heatstroke and heat exhaustion in the week from June 16 to June 22.
This is nine times more than the previous week, the agency said in a statement.
By prefecture, Tokyo had the most cases with 896, followed by Aichi with 706 and Saitama with 648.
A total of 18 deaths were attributed to heatstroke in 14 prefectures, including Kanagawa, Osaka and Okinawa.
There were 210 severe cases requiring hospitalization for more than three weeks, and 3,032 moderate cases requiring short-term hospitalization. Elderly people aged 65 or older accounted for 5,316, or 61.8% of the total.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency is calling for people to take preventive measures such as drinking plenty of water and using air conditioners while sleeping.
© Japan Today
12 Comments
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リッチ
And basic aircon iammand rest with fluids is all it takes to avoid it. Sadly so many places are so hot as they set the to 26 or so. It’s sometimes cooler outside.
リッチ
And cool biz hasn’t started for many as it’s not July 1st. Many outdoor pools are still closed even on weekends which could be used for cooling off More common sense is needed to avoid basic heat stroke. Sadly many people can’t afford electricity to cool their rooms and air con at night? It need to be on in the day. At night often the temps are cooler than 25 meaning a fan is really enough. The over 30 in the day is when you need a cool sanctuary.
1glenn
Heat stroke is no joke! We moved to a part of the South West where temps are moderate almost all the time, thank goodness.
Oldboy
Nothing to do with Aircon or other climate- changing tech.
Just work smartly,super-early,super-late,siesta,like most countries in hot areas do.
Sapporo
I would bet that most of these cases involved people wearing masks at the time they got heat stroke.
virusrex
Absolutely no basis for this prejudice.
kohakuebisu
It was 5C above normal in my town last week, as hot the typically hottest week of the year.
kaimycahl
Could it be that Tokyo is a concrete jungle with many high rises with windows that also create heat.
By prefecture, Tokyo had the most cases with 896
beentofivecontinents
The humidity can raise the "taikan kion" (apparent temperature) but 3 degrees, so a humid 28 C is like a dry 31 C.
wallace
We moved to the seaside area years ago. Cooler than the city by 5-10ºC.
grund
Here in Aichi the last week was intense. It was like the middle of summer already with 35 degrees.
Speed
I took two or three cold showers in the afternoons and evenings last week. Really helps. Drank lots of extra water and walked in the shade as much as possible.
When I get old, poor and my body's natural thermostat doesn't work as well anymore, I'll try and just stick to the habit of three or four cool/cold showers a day.