Photo/Illutration Governors discuss requests to put to the central government over the COVID-19 pandemic during a meeting of the National Governors’ Association held in Nara on July 29. (Provided by the National Governors’ Association)

Hospitals and public health centers are so inundated with COVID-19 patients that they should be relieved of the burden of reporting new cases to the government on a daily basis as the task takes up precious resources, according to a proposal by mayors and governors from around Japan.

The development came as cases continue to skyrocket across the country in the face of a seventh wave of the pandemic.

The number of patients recuperating at home exceeded 1.1 million as of July 27, a record high, according to health ministry data released two days later.

The total number of patients, including those who are hospitalized or staying at designated facilities, numbered around 1.4 million, the ministry said.

Health experts advising the ministry on the crisis warned that the number of patients with severe symptoms is bound to increase from now on, with a corresponding rise in fatalities.

In the meantime, the Mayors Association of Designated Cities and the National Governors’ Association on July 29 urged the central government to end its policy of requiring local governments to immediately report fresh cases of infection each day.

Both associations submitted the request to the government in the form of an emergency proposal.

The surge in new cases has placed an immense burden on already overstrained public health centers and primary care medical centers.

“If infections continue to spread at this pace, we will not be able to protect people’s lives and health,” the mayors association said. 

The association urged the central government to create a workable system as soon as possible by establishing new criteria for local governments to report case numbers.

The National Governors’ Association held a meeting July 28-29 in Nara to discuss the crisis.

“Most of the patients with Omicron variants have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic,” Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki said at the meeting as he called on the central government to review its existing requirement for local governments to promptly report new cases.

Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai said the prefecture close to Tokyo has implemented a system in which people can register themselves online as a COVID-19 patient without going to a clinic or hospital.

Kumagai called for the current system of daily counts to be simplified and said the focus should shift from counting the total number of patients to making a fixed-point observation at designated locations in the future.

Tottori Governor Shinji Hirai told a July 29 news conference, “If we keep spending resources of the medial and health system for reporting the number of cases, we will not be able to save lives that can be saved.”

Hirai urged the central government to “consider a sustainable alternative, such as only reporting case numbers involving elderly people.”

(This article was written by Etsuko Akuzawa and Kayoko Sekiguchi.)

Related News