The Japanese capital of Tokyo said the strain on its medical system from the Covid-19 pandemic was severe, raising its alert level to the highest of four stages as the number of cases spiked to a record daily high of 822.
A health official said it had become difficult to balance the care of Covid-19 patients with regular ones as hospital beds filled up, assigning a "red" alert for medical preparedness for the first time. "Medical service providers have exhausted all spare resources," Masataka Inokuchi, vice chair of the Tokyo Medical Association, told a coronavirus monitoring committee meeting attended by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. "Reducing the number of (Covid-19) patients will be the only way to go." The metropolitan government said