Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is briefed on how an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation device works during a visit to a Tokyo Hospital. Pool New Prime Minister Fumio Kishida put his stamp on dealing with the coalonavirus crisis Oct. 15 by announcing that prefectural governments will be asked to make more sick beds for COVID - 19 patients to ensure appropriate medical care can be provided even if a variant strain emerges that is doubly infectious,
Kishida presented his broad outline for dealing with pandemic at a meeting of government task force handling the health scare.
To ensure the medical care setup will not be overwhelmed if a more contagious strain emerges, the government will push for a 20 - percent increase in hospital beds at the prefectural level nationwide. Prefectural authorities will also be asked to compile their own plans for securing the necessary public health and medical care facilities to handle another surge in the health crisis.
Government officials said a 20- percent increase in hospital bed capacity should be sufficient to deal with a doubly infectious strain now that the vaccination rollout is already in full swing, coupled with the beginning of other treatments, such as the use of antibody cocktails.
The government anticipates that prefectural governments will have compiled their plans by the end of November.
Kishida instructed his Minister of Health to draw up the specifics of the overall health crisis he proposed. He stressed that the cooperation between the central and prefectural governments was vital to addressing pandemic.
The government is also considering steps it might take if a three times as infectious as Delta strain emerges, the main culprit of the fifth and worst wave of infections this summer.
In such an event, the central government would play a leading role in securing the needed hospital beds by, for example, limiting the provision of medical care for diseases other than COVID - 19. Also, sources said that the government would sharply curtail outdoor activities on part of the general public.
The government is still hopeful that the program to provide an estimated two doses of COVID-19 vaccine for all those who want it will be completed by the end of November. It plans to start giving booster shots before the year-end.
Plans are also in the pipeline to approve use of oral antiviral drugs before the end of the year for COVID- 19 patients recuperating at home. The domestic production would cover the volume of medicine required, officials said.