A nationwide survey shows that hospitals and clinics in Japan are experiencing shortages of disposable medical gloves.

In the spring, amid the initial spread of coronavirus infections, nurses and other healthcare professionals faced severe shortages of personal protective equipment.

Medical institutions in Japan are straining to cope with clustered infections.

Group infections occurred at around 100 hospitals in November... more than three times as many as the previous month.

Hospitals across Japan are under growing strain due to the surge in coronavirus cases.

The health ministry says that as of Wednesday, there were 7,826 inpatients with COVID-19 symptoms. That was a rise of more than 1,800, or 32 percent, from a week earlier.

Japan's hospitals are under strain as the number of patients with COVID-19 continues to rise.

Hospital bed occupancy rates topped 30 percent in seven of the 47 prefectures in Japan.

NHK has learned that only 40 percent of medical institutions in Japan are entering information directly into an online system for sharing data on coronavirus infections nationwide.

The Health Center Real-time information-sharing System on COVID-19, or HER-SYS, was introduced in medical institutions and public health centers in May.

Torrential rain in western Japan has left dozens of hospitals and welfare facilities flooded, without power, or lacking water.

The health ministry says, as of 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, at least 23 hospitals were affected by flooding, power outages, and disrupted water supplies in the southwestern prefectures of Kumamoto, Fukuoka and Kagoshima, as well as in the western prefecture of Shiga. Officials say water trucks have been sent to the areas. They also say patients are being moved to nearby facilities.

Torrential rains in Japan's southwestern region of Kyushu have left dozens of hospitals and other facilities inundated or without power or water.

Japan's health ministry says at least 22 hospitals in Kumamoto, Kagoshima and Fukuoka prefectures were flooded or had no electricity or water as of 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

Japan's health minister says the government has begun supplying the newly-approved drug remdesivir to medical institutions treating coronavirus patients.

Kato Katsunobu said on Tuesday that delivery of the anti-viral drug provided by its US manufacturer began the day before.

Japan's government plans to investigate reports that many hospitals are refusing to admit people suspected of having the coronavirus.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency will survey 52 fire departments in Tokyo and other big cities. The survey will ask them how many times their ambulances have been turned away by four or more hospitals.

An NHK survey has found that nearly 10 percent of people infected with the coronavirus in Japan are believed to have contracted the pathogen inside hospitals and other medical institutions.

As of Tuesday, the total of confirmed and suspected cases of hospital infections stood at 1,086, across 60 medical institutions nationwide.

A doctor at a Tokyo medical institution for infectious diseases says he fears the capital's hospitals will not be able to treat the growing number of coronavirus patients.

The Tokyo metropolitan government began moving people with mild symptoms to hotels on Tuesday to free up hospital beds for the seriously ill.

Japanese health ministry officials say passengers on the government-chartered flight will receive medical examinations on board.

The passengers will be divided depending on whether they have such symptoms as coughing and fever.