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TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan missed opportunities to coordinate coronavirus testing and secure hospital beds in the months before the pandemic’s third wave, health officials, doctors and experts say, missteps that hampered its response as winter set in.
FILE PHOTO: Staff wearing protective face shields amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak work at a reception desk at an exhibition centre in Tokyo, Japan, January 13, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
Japan has stood out for containing infections while avoiding the strict lockdowns that devastated economies elsewhere. The death toll, now at 4,315, is one of the lowest among developed nations and around 1% of that of the United States.
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Caught off-guard by scant testing, Japan battered by COVID-19 winter
Seibu Hospital s medical staff take part in a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) simulation training at the hospital in Yokohama, Japan, Jun 18, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Kim Kyung-hoon)
15 Jan 2021 12:57PM (Updated:
15 Jan 2021 01:30PM) Share this content
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TOKYO: Japan missed opportunities to coordinate coronavirus testing and secure hospital beds in the months before the pandemic s third wave, health officials, doctors and experts say, missteps that hampered its response as winter set in.
Japan has stood out for containing infections while avoiding the strict lockdowns that devastated economies elsewhere. The death toll, now at 4,315, is one of the lowest among developed nations and around 1 per cent of that of the United States.