The health ministry will urge all of the nation's hospitals designated as disaster response medical centers to stock enough fuel to run their power generators for at least three days by March 2021, people close to the matter said Sunday.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will also ask those 736 hospitals across the country to store enough water to sustain their treatment for three days without external supply or access to ground water, they said.
The decision comes after the ministry's survey following the deadly torrential rains in western Japan and the earthquake that caused a complete blackout in Hokkaido last year found that more than 100 of the hospitals do not meet either of the criteria.