At any given time, seven out of eight beds in the intensive care unit of St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo are taken up by critically ill coronavirus patients.
TOKYO - At any given time, seven out of eight beds in the intensive care unit of St. Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo are taken up by critically ill coronavirus patients.
With some hospitals reluctant to take in COVID-19 patients, the most critical cases are transferred to willing hospitals like St. Luke’s, which are already inundated. Japan is also in the same scramble for protective gear and medical equipment seen in many countries around the world. Accepting coronavirus patients carries significant risks - both medical and financial - for institutions not normally equipped to treat infectious diseases.
The doctor, who treats coronavirus patients, said many hospitals rely on routine surgeries and short hospital stays for their revenue and cannot afford to shut down those services. “Even if we decide among ourselves that we could take in a patient, when we report it up it can get shot down by the head of the hospital,” he said, adding most hospitals taking in COVID-19 patients were doing so amid financial losses.
However, there were no measures aimed at helping hospitals that are forced to shut down some of their normal functions after taking in coronavirus patients, she said.
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