Medical workers in Osaka prefecture account for 9 percent of all coronavirus cases

Medical workers in Osaka prefecture account for 9 percent of all coronavirus cases

Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

In the prefecture of Osaka, it is known that just over 9 percent of all coronavirus cases are related to medical workers. Of course, it isn’t surprising that the environs of Osaka have coronavirus cases because it is a major economic hub.

At the moment, of the 1,380 reported coronavirus cases, it is known that workers in the health care sector account for just over 9 percent. Alarmingly, in a couple of hospitals, no known cases of coronavirus patients exist.

Medical workers are on the frontline in the coronavirus crisis. Equally important, they are mainly treating non-coronavirus patients. Thus, with infection rates of medical workers being just over 9 percent in the environs of Osaka, then this also shows the hidden unreported cases of coronavirus. After all, a couple of hospitals have reported no known coronavirus patients but staff workers have become infected.

Also, the findings highlight the need to protect all medical workers during the ongoing crisis. If not, the inadequate protection of medical workers will generate more death and more infections. Equally, hospitals will suffer from a shortage of staff. Therefore, the government of Japan and regional Governors need to do more to address this important area.

Ironically, the gradual numbers of confirmed cases appear to be on the wane in this part of Japan. Yet, the opposite is happening when it comes to increasing medical workers becoming infected.

Astonishingly, the Namihaya Rehabilitation Hospital, with a reported 60 confirmed cases of infected medical workers, still told an infected nurse to continue working. It is known that this hospital is caring for 126 patients who have coronavirus. Therefore, despite the pathetic excuse that this nurse was only working with coronavirus patients – and they couldn’t find a replacement – they clearly haven’t considered the wider population who could have become infected.

NHK reports, “The officials say the nurse was confirmed infected on Monday. But the hospital reportedly told her to work an overnight shift as scheduled that day, despite knowing the test result.”

The shoddy case above shows that lessons aren’t being learned in some quarters in Japan.