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Many hospitals in Japan refusing COVID-19 patients with mental disabilities The Mainichi
TOKYO More than 60% of patients found to be infected with the novel coronavirus while in psychiatric hospitals in Japan could not be transferred to other medical facilities designated for COVID-19 cases, as general hospitals apparently tend to refuse them due to the perception that they are difficult to deal with, a survey has revealed.
Some of these patients even died from COVID-19, and experts are concerned that more may end up with insufficient treatment.
The Japan Psychiatric Hospitals Association, based in Tokyo s Minato Ward, sent questionnaires to 1,192 member hospitals and received responses from 524 of them. The survey revealed that 1,012 inpatients at psychiatric hospitals tested positive for the coronavirus between March 2020 and January 2021. They needed to be transferred to other medical facilities because it is difficult for psychiatric hospitals to prov