Photo/Illutration Messages posted on the windows of Tachikawa Sogo Hospital read, “Medical capacity has reached its limits. Stop the Olympics!” and “Give us a break. The Olympics are impossible!” The photo was taken in Tokyo’s Tachikawa on May 6. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

"This way for outpatients with a fever" and "No visitors" were two of the signs I saw on the ground floor of Tachikawa Sogo Hospital, which I visited yesterday in the western Tokyo city of Tachikawa.

There were also new messages posted on the hospital's second- and third-floor windows.

"Medical capacity has reached its limits. Stop the Olympics!" said one. Another went, "Give us a break. The Olympics are impossible!"

These appeals were put up at the end of April.

Since last year, the hospital has treated 242 COVID-19 inpatients, including serious cases.

"With absolutely no extra staff to spare, we are on the verge of triggering a domino effect that could lead to a complete collapse of the health care system," a hospital spokesperson noted.

The last straw that forced the hospital to post these messages was the request, made in April by the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee to the Japanese Nursing Association (JNA), to make 500 nurses available during the Games this summer.

Front-line health care professionals immediately protested.

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) famously said, "Nursing should not be a sacrifice, but one of the highest delights of life." A social media post quoting her words has gone viral.

Back in March, Japanese Nursing Association Publishing Co. published a book titled "Nasu tachi no Genba Repoto" (Reports from nurses on the front line), in which 162 health care professionals recounted their thoughts and feelings over the past year.

Some recalled their fear of infecting their own children with the virus. Others described the anguish of people who sobbed uncontrollably as they visited their loved ones for the last time online.

The reports convey the distress, doubts and sense of mission experienced only by nurses who have grappled with this unprecedented pandemic.

The COVID-19 state of emergency has been extended, and even the International Olympic Committee president's planned visit to Japan is being postponed because of the gravity of the situation.

Amid this crisis, Japan is marking its "Kango no Hi" (International Nurses Day) on May 12.

It is simply beyond absurd to even contemplate sparing critically short-staffed nurses to serve a sporting extravaganza.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 11

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

Correction
This article was corrected on May 12. The 10th paragraph originally read: Back in March, the JNA published a book titled "Nasu tachi no Genba Repoto" (Reports from nurses on the front line), in which 162 health care professionals recounted their thoughts and feelings over the past year.

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