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Female COVID-19 patients make up a slim majority in the latest sixth wave of novel coronavirus infections, a switch from the male-led trends of the previous surges in cases.

Experts cited the country’s social structure that has put more women on the front lines in areas susceptible to cluster infections, such as nursing homes and schools.

During the sixth wave that began in January, females accounted for 50.05 percent of the 5.12 million infections reported nationwide until April.

The share of female patients was 46.8 percent during the third wave from November 2020 to February 2021, 45.8 percent during the fourth wave from March to June 2021, and 44.5 percent during the fifth wave from July to September 2021.

The health ministry began publishing data on COVID-19 cases by sex in winter 2020.

Kaori Muto, a professor of medical sociology at the University of Tokyo who is also a member of an expert panel advising the government on the novel coronavirus, said women now face a higher health risk in the pandemic because of the traditional roles they play.

“A division of roles based on gender that is entrenched in Japanese society could be a big factor behind the rise in cases of female patients,” she said.

The number of senior citizens and children infected with the virus has surged in the sixth wave.

A study by Hitoshi Oshitani, professor of virology at Tohoku University, found that elderly care facilities accounted for 27 percent of all sites with cluster infections between January and April, followed by schools at 24 percent, and nursery schools at 22 percent.

Eighty percent of workers in the care industry for seniors are women, according to the Care Work Foundation, an organization advocating improved working conditions for caregivers.

Data by the welfare ministry and education ministry showed that women represent more than 90 percent of staff at preschools.

Nearly 100 workers and residents at an elderly care facility in the Tokyo metropolitan area were infected during a cluster infection in the sixth wave.

“We could not contain the spread of the coronavirus because our job entails close physical contact with care recipients,” said a worker at the facility. “We put our arms around them and help them up as well as take their temperatures.”

Most of those who tested positive in the cluster infection were women, reflecting the fact that women represented 60 percent of care providers and 80 percent of residents at the facility.

During the sixth wave, health authorities instructed most COVID-19 patients with no or mild symptoms to recuperate at home. Some of them ended up passing the virus to people at their homes.

A survey in March by Emiko Ochiai, a professor of family sociology at Kyoto University, found that women accounted for 70 percent of those looking after patients recuperating at home.

The survey also showed that about 30 percent of the female home-care providers caught the virus while looking after an infected relative.

A health ministry study on sources of infections as of April 1 found that 50.2 percent of female patients contracted the virus at home, compared with 42.3 percent of men.

“An increase in the number of patients staying at home likely raises the infection risks for women, considering their traditional role,” Ochiai said.

Muto of the University of Tokyo called for anti-COVID-19 measures to ease the burden on women, such as urging men to play a more active role in housekeeping and child rearing.

(This article was written by Kai Ichino and Natsumi Adachi.)

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