Three new clusters were confirmed. There were 36 people at a facility for people with disabilities in Ichihara City, 9 people at a facility for the elderly in Isumi City, and 12 people at a facility for people with disabilities in Tako City.
At a welfare facility for the disabled in Sasebo, 62 people involved were confirmed to be infected.
As of 7 pm on 14 January, the number of people receiving treatment at home in Nagasaki had risen to 33,116.
An ambulance crew in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, returned an injured man to the scene of a traffic accident and left him there after a hospital refused to accept him because he had tested positive for the coronavirus, the city’s fire department told the Mainichi Shimbun on Aug. 12.
As the spread of the new coronavirus continues, medical teams have been dispatched to facilities for people with disabilities, where normal infection control measures are difficult, such as being unable to wear masks, and efforts have begun to provide guidance on infection control measures.
The medical care system is “under strain,” experts said in a meeting to monitor the infection situation. The alert hit the highest level for the first time in about four months.
Speaking at a press conference, Kishida said the government will accelerate the vaccination drive, with about 8 million health care and nursing care workers targeted for fourth shots.
The Council for Regulatory Reform has compiled a set of proposals calling for improvements to online medical services and the lifting of a ban on sales of coronavirus antigen test kits at drugstores, aimed at reducing the burden on medical institutions amid the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues.
The fourth shot will be given to targeted people five months or more after their third shots. The COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. are used in the fourth vaccination program.
People aged 60 and older as well as individuals between 18 and 59 with chronic health conditions or at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms if infected with the coronavirus will be eligible for the second booster shots, starting Wednesday.
There are 6 infected people, 2 staff members and 4 users, and all of them are women in their 30s to 70s. Although the hands were disinfected, some masks and ventilation were inadequate.
Barrier Free Japan