Japan SDF nurses to assist healthcare facilities -NHK WORLD-JAPAN 7 hours ago
Help is on the way to Japan's northern prefecture of Hokkaido, which has been hit by cluster infections of the coronavirus. With hospitals struggling with a healthcare worker shortage, the Defense Minister is sending in reinforcements from the Self-Defense Forces.
Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo said, "We concluded that emergency medical assistance to Hokkaido Prefecture is necessary , so we decided to send SDF medical assistance teams on a disaster-relief mission as early as today."
About 10 nurses will be dispatched to two hospitals dealing with cluster infections.
The mission is expected to last for no longer than two weeks.
Defense Ministry officials are also preparing to send nurses to a medical facility in Osaka that's focused on serious COVID-19 cases.
This is the fourth time for SDF members to be sent to provide medical assistance over the pandemic.
SDF doctors and nurses helped samples from passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship to conduct PCR tests.
Medical teams were also sent to another cruise ship docked in Nagasaki, and to help ease strain on medical systems in Okinawa.
Authorities confirmed more than 2,100 new cases across Japan on Tuesday. A record 47 deaths were reported.
A total of 536 people are currently in serious condition, also a record high.
