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SDF nurses to help understaffed Hokkaido city fight pandemic

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The health system is not being overwhelmed at all. The journalists writing such nonsense are resorting to hyperbole...

-23 ( +6 / -29 )

@kurisupisu

my wife’s hospital here in Kobe has a cluster with both patients and staff confirmed. They are short 20 staff across 4 floors and she is having to work a shed load of extra hour plus the stress and anxiety that come with it all. Do the press blow things out of proportion, yes are they in this case no not entirely. Where there is smoke there’s fire.

21 ( +25 / -4 )

Oh and they are only testing once and you can only get a second test if you show symptoms! Throwing fuel on that fire imo.

14 ( +17 / -3 )

Much respect to all nurses, all medical personnel involved in the Covid fights. Wouldn't it be nice to think those on the frontlines will be appropriately compensated, given bonuses much greater than their bosses at the rear pushing paper.

All government officials who turned their backs on the fight should be ashamed. As should the individuals who continue to ignore basic health suggestions. As should the posters who continue to downplay and even deny the existence of the virus.

7 ( +13 / -6 )

Send one of these nurses to Sugas house so when she bed baths him and empties his bedpan the old guy can learn a bit about COVID too. Perhaps then this ridiculous Go To spend/spread/infect campaign will be shelved along with the 2020 Olympic farce.

11 ( +14 / -3 )

Good for the SDF, respect to all medical professionals in this crisis. Times like these reinforce how important it is for Japan to "normalize" her military by changing that constitution and expanding the numbers and strength.

1 ( +10 / -9 )

@ PTownsend

All government officials who turned their backs on the fight should be ashamed. 

I dont recall the Japanese govt "turning its back" on Covid. The problem is that nearly all the hospitals in Japan are privately run, and thus give treatment based on what's good for them financially and technically, and they are also ones that mostly are setting these awful work conditions. Blame the medical administrators, but not the govt.

4 ( +13 / -9 )

The Japanese government should recruit nurses from the Philippines and US.

-11 ( +2 / -13 )

Just to elaborate on my initial comment; if a hospital allocated 10 beds out of 200 and 8 of those beds had a positive Covid patient, then that hospital has a high percentage of allocated beds filled, but only a small percentage of their total beds filled.

However, the press is only reporting on the number of allocated beds being filled, and not the millions of beds available all over Japan.

Don’t fall for the skewed reporting...

-11 ( +6 / -17 )

Dispatch nurses for maximum 2 weeks ? 10 nurses ?

that is 2 beds serviced if these nurses ever get to see a patient in those 2 weeks, as they need to get worked in the hospitals methods first.

window dressing and pathetic

The conditions for a state of emergency not fulfilled in Hokkaido ? But you have to send in the army ?

and it seems Japan is way behind in delivery of the vaccines and probably has not even worked out an inoculation program.

73 trillion yen in an extra budget with nothing of that going to the citizens who are providing this money.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

kurisupisuToday  09:28 am JST

Just to elaborate on my initial comment; if a hospital allocated 10 beds out of 200 and 8 of those beds had a positive Covid patient, then that hospital has a high percentage of allocated beds filled, but only a small percentage of their total beds filled.

However, the press is only reporting on the number of allocated beds being filled, and not the millions of beds available all over Japan.

Don’t fall for the skewed reporting...

The press is also failing to report the ages and other pertinent information about people who are seriously ill or have died (privacy permitting), giving a false impression that everyone is at risk from this virus when that's demonstrably untrue.

-9 ( +4 / -13 )

Great job SDF. This activity is Self Defence. Better than wasting money on expensive American weapons and threatening war with our neighbors.

-14 ( +4 / -18 )

I dont recall the Japanese govt "turning its back" on Covid.

Diamond Princess.

-2 ( +7 / -9 )

The press is also failing to report the ages and other pertinent information about people who are seriously ill or have died (privacy permitting), giving a false impression that everyone is at risk from this virus when that's demonstrably untrue.

Everyone is at risk. Both young and old, as well as middle age people have died of the virus throughout the world. Keep practicing social distance as much as possible, use your masks and wash hands / use hand sanitizer constantly. These won't obviously reduce the chances of getting it a 100% but it'll help.

8 ( +11 / -3 )

Hats off to the JSDF and all medical personnel in Japan and everywhere fighting this Covid19 (the exact source of which is still being clouded by China).

GoodlucktoyouToday  10:44 am JST

Great job SDF. This activity is Self Defence. Better than wasting money on expensive American weapons and threatening war with our neighbors.

Japan is not "threatening war" with anybody. Only China is doing so.

"Chinese President Xi Jinping tells troops to focus on 'preparing for war'

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/14/asia/xi-jinping-taiwan-us-esper-intl-hnk/index.html

6 ( +12 / -6 )

The SDF will soon run out of nurses too.

As for the suggestion that nurses should be recruited from abroad.... The language issue is a huge barrier, not to mention checks that nurses training is compatible, then there is the fact that these foreign nurses are unlikely to want to come to Japan, plus the fact there is a global shortage of nurses and both the US and the Philippines and elsewhere are struggling with staff issues. But let’s just wave a wand and make wiling, able and competent foreign nurses appear like magic.

13 ( +14 / -1 )

Anyone doubting my comments, need only take a peek in their nearest hospital in Japan.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

The real problem is , that with those still low numbers compared to most other countries , already in this early phase of the pandemic external SDF nurses as a last resort are needed at the first too busy places. Begin to ask yourself , what you will do, if there is really coming something like a first wave or a second?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

GarthgoyleToday  11:10 am JST

The press is also failing to report the ages and other pertinent information about people who are seriously ill or have died (privacy permitting), giving a false impression that everyone is at risk from this virus when that's demonstrably untrue.

Everyone is at risk. Both young and old, as well as middle age people have died of the virus throughout the world. Keep practicing social distance as much as possible, use your masks and wash hands / use hand sanitizer constantly. These won't obviously reduce the chances of getting it a 100% but it'll help.

No, not everyone is at risk, and the data bears that out. By far the most susceptible people are the very old and those with serious pre-existing conditions. For everyone else, the chances of COVID-19 developing into a serious illness is very low and does not warrant the panic and fear-mongering that we see now.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

As influenza has all but disappeared this winter you would think hospitals would be able to handle this number of cases.

It seems that an inability to adequately manage human resources along with policies such as making nurses clean coronavirus patients rooms instead of cleaning staff has caused this problem.

That America has 1 million cases in a week yet Japan cant handle 500 icu patients indicates bad management.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Kurisupisu

Glad the government is not making decisions based on your information.

Winter is here, and a rise in cases is more likely in the near term. Your issue with this is not worth the effort. If the nurses are not needed they won't be there for very long. Save your energy.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

They're all at risk. All around the world, young and elderly people, as well as middle-aged people have died of the infection. Keep as much social distance as possible, use your goggles and wash your hands constantly / use hand sanitizer. Obviously, this will not eliminate the odds of getting it 100%, but it will improve.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

People who think their particular demographic has little or no risk of the virus are the ones inevitably spreading it. Everyone’s at risk of catching and, especially, passing it on to the most vulnerable.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

zichiToday  01:19 pm JST

Germany has five times the number of ICU beds/ICU nurses which in Japan is the lowest of the G7 countries.

Exactly what point are you trying to make? Germany has more ICU beds and nurses than any country in Europe. Yet they are even facing shortage issues.

"Coronavirus: SOS at German intensive care units

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care beds in Germany is growing dramatically. Hospitals are prepared for the new onslaught in terms of infrastructure — but not in terms of staff."

https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-sos-at-german-intensive-care-units/a-55567776

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Ameila LearyToday 02:35 pm JST

They're all at risk. All around the world, young and elderly people, as well as middle-aged people have died of the infection. Keep as much social distance as possible, use your goggles and wash your hands constantly / use hand sanitizer. Obviously, this will not eliminate the odds of getting it 100%, but it will improve.

Goggles? That's next level!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Ameila LearyToday  02:35 pm JST

They're all at risk. All around the world, young and elderly people, as well as middle-aged people have died of the infection. Keep as much social distance as possible, use your goggles and wash your hands constantly / use hand sanitizer. Obviously, this will not eliminate the odds of getting it 100%, but it will improve.

You are aware that the vast majority - in the mid to high 90%s - exposed to this virus don't show any symptoms, and most of those who do survive, don't you?

I'm not saying don't take precautions, but the fear surrounding this virus is far out of proportion to its effects on just about everyone. Instead, wouldn't it be better to use focused quarantining of people who are most at risk and not shut down the whole country for a tiny percent of the population? At least until a safe one effective vaccine is available if they want to take it? It's not a perfect solution, but everything involves a trade-off of some kind.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Not every bed in a hospital can be turned into a Covid bed

The bed/room has to have special precautions, separate stuff, trained staff, etc.

The number of non-Covid rooms is useless to Covid patients

If there's not enough Covid rooms, the hospital has to turn away extra Covid patients - and those patients could infect others or die if not given ample healthcare

They cannot mix Covid patients with the general patient population

4 ( +4 / -0 )

@OssanAmerica,

I guess the point Zichi wants to make is that Japan's health system would be totally overloaded if Japan faced Germany's daily infection rate (approx. 10 times higher than in Japan).

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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