Experts Maintain Highest Covid Alert For Tokyo
Health experts monitoring the coronavirus situation in Tokyo have decided to maintain the highest alert level for both infections and the medical care system in the capital. They say the system remains strained though the number of new cases has been declining recently.
The experts met on Wednesday to analyze the latest data in Tokyo.
They reported that the seven-day average of new infections, which stood at 684 a week ago, was down to 524 as of Tuesday.
The experts said the figure has been declining from its peak about a month ago, but remains high.
They warned that the virus is spreading among the elderly due to infection clusters at hospitals and senior citizens' facilities, as well as from family members.
The number of new infections this week was 73 percent of the figure last week. The experts said if this ratio can be maintained for four weeks, the seven-day average of new infections will drop to 149.
They said if the ratio can be reduced to 50 percent and maintained for four weeks, the weekly average will be 33, greatly easing the burden on healthcare workers.
The experts said the number of people being treated at hospitals decreased only slightly from 2,876 last Wednesday to 2,606 on Tuesday.
They said the top priorities are preventing infection of the elderly and reducing the number of serious cases.