Japan’s worst COVID-19 outbreak yet has thrown a spotlight on the inability of the country’s otherwise highly regarded medical system to adapt quickly to emergencies, and its lack of reform to meet such needs.
As new cases surged to more than 25,000 a day this month, driven by the delta variant, the number of medical emergencies nationwide that required an ambulance dispatch but had difficulty finding a hospital to accept the patient rose for six straight weeks to a historic high, according to data from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
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