Number of severe COVID patients in Japan hits record for 4th day in row

I just messaged a nurse friend who works in the same hospital.

I put your question to her, and she replied that the ICU capacity was increased and is several beds more than a normal winter flu season would be. She also said that ICU beds are not just about oxygen. Any patients with breathing problems are usually in medically induced comas and breathing via a ventilator because they can't breathe on their own.

In addition ICU staff have special training on top of their normal skills. She said that normally you can't just produce doctors and nurses in a short time, and the most important factor for ICU staff is experience.

It's not just a case of jamming someone onto an oxygen tank.

My friend's hospital's ICU is currently running at 90% capacity because they had to take patients from non-covid hospitals.

I meant from hospitals with covid facilities.

With less than 0.1% of the beds occupied, it is indeed utter nonsense to be talking about a strain on the health system.

Tell that to my doctor friend. His hospital is a large city establishment and doesn't have COVID facilities, but they have to take the overspill of other hospitals that do. Most hospitals, not just in Japan, operate at close to max capacity with a fine balancing act to keep the healthcare running. Even non-covid hospitals have more work with all patients requiring tests before being admitted and implementing other measures to stop clusters breaking out.

Then there are ICU beds that require more staff to operate.

My friend's hospital's ICU is currently running at 90% capacity because they had to take patients from non-covid hospitals. If this keeps on increasing, they will have to turn away patients from the ICU.

The number of coronavirus patients with severe symptoms across Japan totaled 1,603 

,,,,,1603 in a nation of 120 million. As usual, we get exaggeration rather than perspective.

Infectious disease experts have called for foot traffic in Tokyo to be cut by half 

Who are these "experts" and how do they want to "cut foot traffic". What about the basic concept of freedom of movement?

Really! Sydney about the same number of cases as Tokyo and similar death rate.!

testing numbers in Sydney are over 100000 per day and number of infections less than 500..how can you say numbers are similar to tokyo? numbers in tokyo would be tenfold of what they report due to lack of testing and cost of tests..tests here in Sydney are free and encouraged even without symptoms the new rapid antigen test which gives result in 15 minutes costs $9.50 (about 800 yen)..it’s true that delta is rising here despite the lockdown but at least trying to manage the spread whereas there it is spreading completely out of control.

Bush- not exactly. Monoclonal antibodies and therapeutics prevent hospitalizations of the vulnerable. And vaccines, while not as effective as promised, still keep most of the vulnerable out of the hospital.

Japanese politicians including present PM who want to prioritize economy than corona virus measures had tried to emphasize "smallness" of number of severe patients to make danger of corona virus look small.

They had optimistic delusion as if they can reduce only number of severe patients no matter how many patients.

But they couldn't understand even natural result that increase of new cases causes also increase of severe patients.

How will this pandemic end?

It will last for years probably.

Well yes and no.

This doctor puts it simply and clearly what the most probable scenario will be.

No hysteria just very clear simple facts based on science.

Give it a listen.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/946609

Boost your immune system, be cautious but don't be paranoid or in fear.

Better! Get vaccinated ASAP.

50% of Japanese I talked to are not interested in vaccination. Some said they are waiting for the Japanese brand vaccines. Some said they don't believe in Japanese Government.

Good luck to them, the virus is real, the disease is real too and can have fatal or disabling outcome.

How will this pandemic end?

It will last for years probably.

@AntiqueSaving

HCU beds are for those previously in ICU that are improving so remove the HCU and Japan actually only has 3.5 ICU beds per 100,000

Thanks for the information.

I start to think that 防災 in Japan is a joke regarding the number of ICU beds.

With the quick spreading of the delta variant, soon or later everyone will be in contact with the virus.

Boost your immune system, be cautious but don't be paranoid or in fear.

zichiToday  03:15 pm JST

Thanks.

I noted in the number of beds Excel spreadsheet the it says by type but has no mention of ICU beds available in Japan.

Now we have all been told how Japan leads the world in hospital beds.

But it took some digging.

But while the USA has 35 ICU beds per 100,000

Germany has 29, Canada 13, UK 8

Japan has 5 ICU beds per 100,000

But that depends on the definition of ICU because Japan has HCU and ICU.

HCU beds are for those previously in ICU that are improving so remove the HCU and Japan actually only has 3.5 ICU beds per 100,000

I sense an extension of the emergency. And looking into the crystal ball, I sense the arrival of another wave. And the whole situation will repeat itself. But what do I know? I'm not a politician, I don't watch foreign news like them, I only watch Japanese TV programs where people eat ramen.

50% of Japanese I talked to are not interested in vaccination. Some said they are waiting for the Japanese brand vaccines. Some said they don't believe in Japanese Government.

How will this pandemic end?

You need to find a new circle of people.

Every elderly member of my 3 extended Japanese families are vaccinated, every uncle aunt great uncle, great aunt, etc...

Every friend and client has or is waiting to get vaccinated.

Same for my 20 something children's friends.

The only thing holding anyone back is no one can get appointments and those that can are scheduled weeks even months from now, My sister in law only recently got her vouchers and the best appointment she could get was late October.

There is a reason people are complaining about not being able to get an appointment, because to many want the vaccine and not enough available.

50% of Japanese I talked to are not interested in vaccination. Some said they are waiting for the Japanese brand vaccines. Some said they don't believe in Japanese Government.

How will this pandemic end?

People that can sit back in a bar and go on about living our lives blah blah blah.

other people can sit back on their computer, whinging & whining for a year & a half,

And nothing has changed except their anxiety level.

1,563 people in hospital and there is a ‘strain’ on the health system?

Utter nonsense!

The Delta strain is highly contagious and the rise in infections is alarming. In addition, hospital beds in some prefectures are fully occupied. This should be a headline in itself. The Delta strain isn't going to stop being highly contagious just because the beds are full.

Which prefectures?

So what happens now? What is the plan?

People die at home : it has started from the beginning but a few months ago was revealed afterwards by media and now everyone knows it is happening in a massive way (guess what happen when you have over thousands and thousands of people required to stay home with unkown illness)

Hide as much from the foreign media

Fin any new important media topic to lure readers

Blame foreigners for breaking rules about Covid while natsu matsuri are Petri dish

...

NickeeToday  02:15 pm JST

Oh sure, Olympics were the problem.

Not the packed trains, the useless SOE, the non-existent track and tracing, the delay of vaccine rollout..

I was and am still a 100% anti Olympics.

But I admit nothing major came out from but we have yet to see if Lambda got last quarantine.

That said, the packed trains the fake normalcy, the ridiculously low testing, the ignoring of rising cases, the illusion of all is fine was all done because Tokyo inc. and the IOC Wanted to hold the games even if it killed everyone in the city.

No Olympics and I am sure the response would have been far better by no means perfect or even close to what was/is needed but far more and far better.

Oh sure, Olympics were the problem.

Not the packed trains, the useless SOE, the non-existent track and tracing, the delay of vaccine rollout....

We need to deal with Covid in a rational manner as we do anything that comes up in life, being over emotional is counter productive.

I love this from people that never had to face death or the dying.

People that can sit back in a bar and go on about living our lives blah blah blah.

When they have had to spend hours trying to save someone's life and then have to turn to the family and tell them there was nothing more you could have done.

When you have done that over and over again like those of use that have been first responders, paramedics, nurses, doctors etc..

Then you can come along with your nonchalant attitude of "that's life".

Some people are just sad.

Stop blaming the Olympics for everything, I was at the Olympics and things were very tightly controlled, and so many preventive measures were taken bordering on ridiculous.

Yes and no. If you were 'at' the Olympics in the supposed'bubble' , there was lots of busy work making it look super controlled. But even then, staff in the canteen commented how in reality, the measures were not observed. There was contact between serving staff and athletes, many didn't wear masks even when not eating, they didn't observe distancing, spoke loudly, didn't use sanitiser... and on and on.

And if you were some of the invisible support staff, the bubble didn't apply to you at all. Tens of thousands of drivers were hired, many billeted in crowded dorms with no chance of social distancing. All the police, likewise. Clusters broke out in their lodgings. Volunteers, cleaners, caterers, security guards, all travelled in and out from their homes and families. Were these cases logged separately? No - so there is no way to really know the numbers of infections caused directly or indirectly.

Burning BushToday  07:14 am JST

The "breakthrough" cases that weren't supposed to happen are happening.

Back to square one

Please tell us where these breakthrough cases are?

Not Japan.

The USA? Nope CDC says well over 90% of cases are the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

Israel? Nope despite the quack that went on TV claiming 90% of new cases were vaccinated people on August 8th the Israeli government released the figures showing 86% were unvaccinated.

Lambda? Nope again the information on Lambda came from Chile were 93% are vaccinated with Sinovac only 7% with Pfizer all vaccinated cases are Sinovac.

Peru 38 million dose were sinopharm now administering 30 million doses of Pfizer all breakthrough cases are sinopharm.

So basically Pfizer, Moderna are doing just fine best to stay away from Sinovac and sinopharm.

Burning BushToday  07:14 am JST

The "breakthrough" cases that weren't supposed to happen are happening.

Back to square one

Please tell us where these breakthrough cases are?

Not Japan.

The USA? Nope CDC says well over 90% of cases are the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

Israel? Nope despite the quack that went on TV claiming 90% of new cases were vaccinated people on August 8th the Israeli government released the figures showing 86% were unvaccinated.

Lambda? Nope again the information on Lambda came from Chile were 96

Little joeyToday  08:26 am JST

Stop blaming the Olympics for everything, I was at the Olympics and things were very tightly controlled, and so many preventive measures were taken bordering on ridiculous. Back in the real world I encountered long lines in front of popular food stands, crowded swimming pools, full trains, and cinemas full with popcorn munching folks. The Olympics isn't responsible for the sharp increase in cases, apathy is.

It's the easy thing to do.

People in packed trains shaking their heads reading articles about the Olympics with no spectators being a "super spreader" event, then discussing it later while having a beer in a packed Izakaya. Meanwhile soccer, sumo and even Fuji Rock go ahead with crowds.

The hypocrisy is why we are going nowhere.

Some do it because they don't want to consider their own behaviour might be a contributing factor, others just don't like the Olympics and blame it for all problems and jumped on the pandemic.

We need to deal with Covid in a rational manner as we do anything that comes up in life, being over emotional is counter productive.

It is rational for everyone to follow health guidelines such as masks and social distancing, and to have a vaccine shot - not just the sick and elderly.

There is no rationality in the pro-diseaser camp - they are the only ones protesting on streets.

Burning BushToday  07:14 am JST

The "breakthrough" cases that weren't supposed to happen are happening.

Back to square one.

Not even close.

Now some are returning to their home prefectures, like Hiroshima, and spreading it there. 

you have no proof of that.

just saying it doesn’t make it true

"Not related to the Olympics" is the first word rolling off the lips of Tokyo and Suga with every speech, forgetting that some of these serious cases are police who were dispatched to Tokyo FOR the Olympics, many without having been vaccinated. Now some are returning to their home prefectures, like Hiroshima, and spreading it there. Well done, guys!

Lock it down. It has clearly worked in Australia etc

people & businesses with no income is up, bankruptcies are up, people with severe depression is up.

yep, working great

@AgentXToday  07:57 am JST

And the negativity keeps on coming. You guys own the airwaves now. Normal people tuned out long ago and are just living their lives the best they can...

There will always be Debbie Downers.

If it’s not negativity about the Olympics, it’s Covid-19, & it’ll be something else next.

Usual fear mongering taking place here. Notice there’s less of them now as people see the reality and understand we need to live with Covid worldwide. 10 deaths nationwide yesterday, hardly a pandemic of Biblical proportions by any means.

As more are vaccinated severe case will fall and as we see most don’t result in fatal outcomes.It’s illogical to close down a nation destroy the economy and devastate lives with lockdowns. We have seen the toll lockdowns so take in the west.

Get on with life and take any precautions you deem necessary.

 believe anti-vaxxers are the rational ones by rejecting something that has not been proven safe. Just because 10 people say it's safe and 3 people are saying I am not so sure about that, they are the enemy Anti-vaxxers??

This is deeply irrational position to take, because the alternative is well known already to be the opposite of safe, so as long as the vaccines are safer than the infection there is no rational point to pretend there is a realistic possibility for this to change in the future, if 10 people can actually show scientific evidence of the vaccines being safe, while 3 people are just saying that maybe all scientists are just wrong just because they fear so it is not so hard to see which side is being irrational.

People can make wrong choices even after informed consent, giving the same importance to baseless conspiracy theories than to the huge amounts of scientific evidence that say the contrary is not a reason why being an antivaxxer becomes rational, it just points out the reasons why they are not.

@onedragon I thoroughly agree

rational people understand that no drug or treatment ever has been 100% effective,

I believe anti-vaxxers are the rational ones by rejecting something that has not been proven safe. Just because 10 people say it's safe and 3 people are saying I am not so sure about that, they are the enemy Anti-vaxxers??

The results will be in soon enough but until that time people should question everything they are told about being vaccinated. It is called informed decision making, not forced decision making.

Great news! About time.

It's nice to see that the medical system here is not as corrupt as many other countries.

The problem of this specific person is not that everybody else is corrupt, but that he himself is not so good at evaluating scientific evidence and fell for the baseless appeals of people that want to push things without the necessary proof of efficacy. (or if you think cynically, he wants something to keep people thinking something is being done, when in reality he knows this will bring no relief, as it has happened in places where the drug is widely available but complications and deaths kept increasing).

It should not be the case that doctors (specially in positions of authority) push for things without scientific evidence of those things actually working, but no country has only capable people working on public health, it would be naive to expect Japan to be different.

@deallordont

Weird how they just kinda have stopped mentioning teleworking or students taking lessons online. Hmmm... I don't have cable here in Japan, but I haven't really seen any mention of these approaches in any articles in a while.

Japanese schools were doing a poor job of teleworking and online lessons. Students are complaining they can not meet new people. Managers do not know how to really manage. Parents either can not have or do not want their children at home.

Most schools are business as usual, and the young people will be the primary reason for increase infections.

Government before Obon holiday and even before Olympic games, "we have control and we can prevent increase of COVID cases".

The problem is there is no control in Japan. Lock down cannot be enforced and all they can do is asking please.

Well the head of Tokyo's medical association has called for a change of tactics like offering ivermectin so hopefully things will pick up

https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/123988

Great news! About time.

It's nice to see that the medical system here is not as corrupt as many other countries.

Wakarimasen

Lock it down. It has clearly worked in Australia etc

Really! Sydney about the same number of cases as Tokyo and similar death rate.!

Melbourne now in yet another total lockdown and things just getting worse day by day.

Lockdowns do work for the government to take total control of people's freedoms and have the police and army flex their control. And bring in lots of income to the government from the huge fines for the still numerous people, that resist the totalitarian rules.

Weird how they just kinda have stopped mentioning teleworking or students taking lessons online. Hmmm... I don't have cable here in Japan, but I haven't really seen any mention of these approaches in any articles in a while.

Lock it down. It has clearly worked in Australia etc

My worry is that Japan will be classified as a red-alert nation and other countries will place more restrictions on people coming from Japan.

Winter’s coming. Get vaccinated!

This could be one very ugly winter.

@Thetruthisoutthere

Number of tests between July 1st and August 13th : 500,937 = 11,384 daily, this is so pathetic.

Good data points - just to put the above statement in perspective - during the 6 weeks you mention for whole of Tokyo population of 14 Million total tests done was 500,937

During olympics from 23 Jul to 8 Aug for 75,000 odd foreigners total tests done were more than 600,000

Show where the govt priorities are - irrespective of what Suga says that for him Japanese people lives are more important than holding the olympics????

Sydney with a population of 8 million whatever does more tests than all of Japan and finds 400 plus cases, (still rising even with their extreme lockdown that ramped up the army on the streets today to enforce it). BUT they are also still getting rising daily deaths, currently in the single digits, which interestingly are about the same as Tokyo, with its make believe unenforced SOE, which also only finds 400 plus cases but from a fraction the number of tests. Read from that what you want about the success of total lockdowns and mass testing.

What is the plan?

To continue with the planned Paralympics.

And continue on with the annual 49 team national high school baseball tournament.

And allow the multi-day Fuji Rock festival.

And just let Tokyo Disney stay open daily as usual.

Japan has no plan. Just wait and see. Sad but that's the reality in Japan.

I agree, but it would be nice if Kyodo news just wrote that then.

Ask the difficult questions to the right people and report on their answers. If no answers are forthcoming, then simply report 'there seems to be no plan'.

HBJToday  10:03 am JST

So what happens now? What is the plan?

Japan has no plan. Just wait and see. Sad but that's the reality in Japan.

And nationwide, 153,837 patients hospitalized for Covid, just unbelievable.

I forgot to add : on August 14th, average daily tests done nationwide = 93,216 and average daily infections = 16,033.

The alarming rise in infections has come amid the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus. Designated hospital beds in many prefectures are fully occupied.

Why is this just a throw away line at the end of the article?

The Delta strain is highly contagious and the rise in infections is alarming. In addition, hospital beds in some prefectures are fully occupied. This should be a headline in itself. The Delta strain isn't going to stop being highly contagious just because the beds are full.

Which prefectures?

So what happens now? What is the plan?

I expect we will see over 5000 per day rather soon.

@thepersoniamnow

If I recall correctly it went from 800-900 / day in Tokyo to about 3000.

So if the news is reporting that, whats the message?

Part of the shift is the Olympics was not cancelled, so there is no reason lie anymore. That is all they wanted. The foreign media is better at finding the truth when they want to than the Japanese media. Elections are soon and the LDP wants to create "a bad guy," so they will try to shift the blame on the foreigners and not their incompetence.

Notice how Abe has been lurking around lately?

It is a sign of things to come! Pretend he had no involvement, pretend the foreigners are the reason for the recent problems, and pretend that he and rewriting the constitution is the answer to all these problems. He needs to change it before Koike runs for the PM job.

AntiquesavingToday  09:13 am JST

The virus is an army on the march 24/7

That's a very good summary ! And against this, Japanese government answer is just an insult to common sense.

Here below some interesting numbers from the open data provided by Tokyo government.

Number of tests between July 1st and August 13th : 500,937 = 11,384 daily, this is so pathetic.

During that time, 101,814 positive tests.

The positivity rate increased daily from 6,6 % on July 1st to 33,89% on August 13th.

And nationwide, 153,837 patients hospitalized for Covid, just unbelievable.

All these problems are legacy created by Abe and his attempt to copy leaders like Johnson, trump in the US, Bolsanaro, Putin, lil Kim, and Xi .

They all failed plus Japan was stupid enough to hold a superspreader event like the Olympics!

SOE won’t don’t nothing to change the outcome of the situation.

Just the official numbers. Everyone knows that the jgov numbers are all bs. Positivity rate is prob the highest in the world, all due to Japan’s world renowned minimize testing regime.

The virus is an army on the march 24/7

The government are the generals leading the battle Monday to Friday 9:00 to 17:00 weekend and holidays off with reduced testing, reduced Vaccination on weekends and holidays leaving the troops in the fields ( hospitals and medical staff ) to fend for themselves.

Why do you think the daily covid case update comes exactly at 16:45 everyday and on weekends they cannot supply the number of tests done? Because the few still working on Saturday and Sunday have to leave at 17:00 and can't process all the information before that 17:00 clocking out time.

So if the news is reporting that, whats the message?

You can't protect people from their own stupidity?

The government's response will be in 2 steps.

Step one: reduce testing

Step two: Blame those under 30 for not being vaccinated despite the fact they can't due to slow government system and shortage of vaccine.

This was announced a couple days ago and buried in NHK:

Starting today, Japan will increase the number of people coming in from abroad to airports from the current limit of 2000 per day, up to 3500 per day.

The reasoning is that even though they get about 10-20 new positives per day on int’l arrivals at the airports, there is apparently “extra capacity for quarantine and treatment now that the Olympics are finished”.

Wait, I though Tokyo was at a breaking point for hospitals and treatment facilities?

And what about the Paralympics??

I really wish another article (and in English) would be published on this, but here is the only one I saw:

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210814/k10013200641000.html?utm_int=detail_contents_news-related_007

They didn't care to start with. Stay home and die.

C'mon, be fair. This is Japan, the home of politeness.

"Stay home and die please"

The Olympics may not be responsible, but the day it started began reporting infections in the thousands.

If I recall correctly it went from 800-900 / day in Tokyo to about 3000.

So if the news is reporting that, whats the message?

Guess they dont care anymore now!!!!

They didn't care to start with. Stay home and die.

Stop blaming the Olympics for everything, I was at the Olympics and things were very tightly controlled, and so many preventive measures were taken bordering on ridiculous. Back in the real world I encountered long lines in front of popular food stands, crowded swimming pools, full trains, and cinemas full with popcorn munching folks. The Olympics isn't responsible for the sharp increase in cases, apathy is.

What a mess Suga and Koike have created with holding the olympics and not securing the borders well enough. If no direct link to olympics please explain how the delta virus got here... Uganda?

Let's hope the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan can come in to power and show their leadership skills and expose all the corrupt LDP politicians and make some real changes to testing and transparency on what is really going on.

actively ignoring the warnings from the experts

This pretty much sums up the history of Covid. To really make it clear, we could add the words "in the name of good political optics" at the end.

As a result of this record breaking trend see this latest news on yahoo japan (link below)

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/pickup/6401785

Koike has given instructions to local health centers in Tokyo to stop track & trace activities for all serious patients as the numbers are too high putting a strain on workload to health center staff but to focus only on elderly people in thier track & trace operations.

Two things here -

first when everyone knew delta surge is going to happen for last three months why there was no effort to increase capacity & prepare accordingly the health centers? But everyone was busy focusing on holding thier damn olympics that time.

Second as Suga & everyone keep saying elderly people are taken care of by vaccinations then os this order from koike is directly opposing to this very fact? Should they not instead focus during track & trace folks in thier 40s & 50s who are at greater risk of hospitalization & serious cases due to lack of vaccination?

What this directive from Koike basically says to Tokyo residents is that they are on thier own & not to expect anything from govt? Its a slap on the face of normal taro & kieko here in Tokyo - with already controlled/reduced testing and on top of this new directive to stop track & trace activities to anyone who is not elderly not sure how they plan to control this spread & save people lives…. Guess they dont care anymore now!!!!

I think we’re all safe.

That’s because Abe is back and he’s walking around shrines with entourages without a mask or a care in the world!

Japan doesn’t have anything to worry about………..

And the negativity keeps on coming. You guys own the airwaves now. Normal people tuned out long ago and are just living their lives the best they can...

The seven-day rolling average of infections in Tokyo has risen to 4,263.9 per day, up 5.6 percent from the previous week.

That's compared this week and next week, and also next week Japan will host Paralympics that will bring 4000 athetes, that's no including officials.

Koike wearing a tracksuit doesn’t seem to be working.

There's a mental image I can live without.

Maybe this tracksuit wasn't sufficiently decorated with cute characters exhorting Tokyo residents to do their best.

Just to pre-empt the inevitable catcalls from the usual quarters:

"Yes, but did any of them die?"

The "breakthrough" cases that weren't supposed to happen are happening.

Strawman, vaccines were never promoted to be 100% efficient, and variants were always a concern that experts warned about precisely for this reason.

Antivaxxers were the only ones that said vaccines should be perfect for all eternity, rational people understand that no drug or treatment ever has been 100% effective, specially when only a minority of the population is using it. If anything this proves the irresponsible people that keep saying COVID do not represent any danger in Japan.

People want to believe everything is fine and they can resume their normal lives, actively ignoring the warnings from the experts that say this situation is likely to become much worse unless something is done urgently.

This is just going to continue to get worse and worse, as literally nothing is being done. Koike wearing a tracksuit doesn’t seem to be working.

Maybe opening schools in two weeks to full classrooms and rammed school buses will help to curb the spread.

And in a potentially related Japan Today article today:

Why are there so many summer festivals in Japan?

By Aonghas Crowe

Walking past the 1,800-year-old Sumiyoshi Jinja the other day, I noticed preparations underway for the Nagoshi Taisai (grand festival). Lanterns were being set up, and a chinowa, or large hoop made of straw, had been placed before the shrine’s main structure.

It was a relief to see a semblance of normalcy returning to life in Japan after more than a year of COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions—normalcy that included the **natsu matsuri, or the summer festivals, that were canceled last year.**