Photo/Illutration Asahikawa-Kosei General Hospital, where a total of 224 people were infected with the novel coronavirus, in Asahikawa, Hokkaido (The Asahi Shimbun)

ASAHIKAWA, Hokkaido--Hokkaido's second largest city has decided to call on the Self-Defense Forces to dispatch 20 or so medical personnel to help after hundreds of residents contracted the novel coronavirus in a series of large cluster infections.

Osaka Prefecture has already requested SDF assistance as most of its hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in serious condition have been filled.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato promised during a Dec. 7 news conference that the central government would swiftly respond to Asahikawa's request.

“The central government is preparing the SDF dispatch so that personnel will be sent promptly as soon as we receive the request,” he said.

The city, with a population of 347,000, is facing a dire shortage of health care workers after eight cluster infections broke out.

Two occurred at separate hospitals, including one that plays a central role in the local health care system.

Asahikawa needs 24 nurses and other medical personnel to fill the void in staff, city officials said at a Dec. 5 meeting with officials of the health ministry and the Japan Medical Association, a nationwide network of doctors. The ministry and the association each has its own emergency response team.

The municipal government called on the Hokkaido prefectural government the next day to send the city 24 workers, but to no avail.

Prefectural officials said health care systems across Hokkaido are overstretched in trying to meet Asahikawa’s request.

The same day, Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki and Asahikawa Mayor Masahito Nishikawa agreed to seek the deployment of SDF medical personnel to help ride out the public health crisis.

Suzuki will issue the formal request as soon as the number of workers is decided.

COVID-19 cases have surged in Asahikawa since cluster infections occurred there last month.

With 224 cases, Asahikawa-Kosei General Hospital has one of the largest infections reported within a hospital in Japan.

At Asahikawa's Yoshida Hospital, 184 people were affected, according to the city government.

City officials also said 40 people have died from COVID-19 in the city to date, all of whom were infected while they were patients at the two hospitals.

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