Twenty-four of the country's 47 prefectures have not yet increased their number of hospital beds for patients suffering from coronavirus infections as requested by the central government, a Kyodo News survey showed Thursday.
Sixteen prefectures are ready or are nearing readiness to increase the number of hospital beds, while seven did not respond to the survey or give valid answers., according to the survey.
The survey, based on interviews with prefectural government officials conducted from Feb. 20 to 26, also found 15 prefectures are beefing up their capacity to test for the pneumonia-causing virus.