Japan To Dispatch SDF Nurses To Osaka As COVID-19 Surge Threatens Health System

TOKYO, Dec. 11 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Dec, 2020 ) :Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) nurses will be dispatched to Osaka Prefecture to help fight a surge in coronavirus infections there, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Friday.

The move came following an official request made by Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura for the assistance of SDF nurses.

Kishi said that due to a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the western prefecture, the local medical system is becoming overburdened.

He said the nurses will be deployed from next Tuesday will work at two facilities in the prefecture for about two weeks.

Kishi said he hopes "the SDF will make full use of its capabilities to curb the number of fatalities and seriously ill patients as much as possible." Osaka saw a surge in COVID-19 cases recently, with 415 new infections and nine deaths confirmed on Thursday, with severe cases also hitting record levels.

As to whether more nurses will be deployed henceforth, Kishi said, "We will evaluate the situation and strive to do whatever is possible within the SDF's ability." The latest deployment by the SDF of its nurses comes on the heels of nurses from Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) starting work on Wednesday at facilities in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost prefecture, that was also struggling to cope with a recent surge in COVID-19 cases.

The nurses were dispatched to the northern city in response to a request by Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki.

They have already started to help staff at a facility for disabled people and a hospital where clusters of infections were reported.

Go Asari, who is in charge of anti-virus measures at the city's health center, said nurses being dispatched means the local COVID-19 situation is extremely serious.

"We take it very seriously that members of the SDF were sent here as their dispatch has been considered to be a last resort. We want to rely on their support to contain clusters of infections," Asari said.

Since November, novel coronavirus infections have been on the rise in Japan's metropolitan areas like Tokyo and Osaka, but cities like Hokkaido have also been hard-hit by the pneumonia-causing virus.