A facility dedicated to coronavirus patients with serious symptoms opened Tuesday in Osaka, with the Self-Defense Forces as well as other regions of Japan sending nurses to make up for a staff shortage amid a recent spike in infections there.
The prefabricated, temporary facility with 30 beds and respirators to treat seriously ill patients in the city's Sumiyoshi Ward will initially receive about five COVID-19 patients. The building was completed at the end of November.
In the morning, three SDF nurses in camouflage uniform — one from the National Defense Medical College with experience in intensive care and two associate nurses — arrived at the new medical center.