Okinawa hospital Covid-19 cluster results in 64 deaths in last few weeks
Kanako Mita and Sawako Utsumi
Modern Tokyo Times
According to NHK, 64 patients connected to the Uruma Kinen Hospital have passed away since July 30, 2021. This cluster of coronavirus (Covid-19) is extremely high for Okinawa. After all, only 250 people have died from coronavirus in Okinawa since this virus entered Japan early last year.
The Delta variant (first reported in India) began to infect this hospital in the middle of July. This concerns both patients and medical workers.
Soon the crisis spread dramatically resulting in 23 hospital workers and 173 patients catching coronavirus. By July 30, the deaths began to happen at increasing rates. Currently, the cluster is responsible for 64 deaths.
NHK reports, “A hospital official said that if the patients hadn’t been infected, they could have continued to recuperate at the hospital. The official said the hospital will do everything possible to deal with the situation.”
Lee Jay Walker says, “At a national level, the total deaths in Okinawa are approximately 250. Yet, according to various websites, the number of deaths in this one hospital relates to more deaths during this timeframe than all of Okinawa. This will fuel more speculation that the real number of deaths throughout Japan is higher because fewer autopsies are done, many elderly reside alone, people are dying at home because of hospital bed shortages, the manipulation of statistics, and various other factors.”
Also, disturbingly, the crisis in this hospital began during the recent Tokyo Olympics. Hence, media attention was overtly on shiny gold medals won by Japanese athletes rather than serious issues like this hospital.
It is noticeable that the worst coronavirus crisis emerged during the Olympic timeframe concerning many factors – including the mindset.
Shigeru Omi, the chief coronavirus advisor to the government of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, said, “The biggest risk is the lack of a sense of crisis, and without it, the infections will further expand and put medical systems under severe strain.”
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210817_13/
https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/ – Tokyo Metropolitan Government website for updates about the coronavirus crisis in Tokyo.
https://toyokeizai.net/sp/visual/tko/covid19/en.html – Japan and Tokyo Covid-19 news with more analysis
https://covid19japan.com/ – Japan regional coronavirus statistics
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ World coronavirus statistics
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