As Okinawa faces seventh coronavirus wave, prefecture looks to bolster support for elderly care facilities by dispatching nursing assistants
April 15, 2022 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Takuya Kayo
With a new wave of coronavirus infections spreading throughout elderly care facilities in Okinawa, governor Denny Tamaki announced April 14 that among other new pandemic-battling policies they would be taking steps to bolster assistance for elderly care facilities.
The prefecture will be implementing a program for dispatching nurses to help with infection clusters as they arise, helping to support the rotations for doctors and nurses at key medical facilities.
According to Okinawa’s Office of Infectious Disease and Healthcare Maintenance, there has been a rapid increase in patients in recovery at these facilities, reaching 172 people on April 13. Until now, additional medical care at these facilities have been reliant on medical professionals volunteering, but this system has expanded significantly. The Naha, southern region, and central region’s key medical facility personnel will coordinate their rotations for the day, so in the case of an outbreak they will be able to handle it without any loss of time.
In addition to the prefecture’s central policy office, since June of last year private care centers have also been dispatching caretakers to facilities in the event of a cluster outbreak. However, since there is concern that an increase in cases will further exacerbate the lack of personnel, there is a plan to enact a nurse assistant dispatch program. They are looking into using government subsidies to quickly secure human resources by coordinating with institutions such as the Okinawa Nurses Association.
Satoru Kuniyoshi, head of Okinawa’s Office of Infectious Disease and Healthcare Maintenance said, “By readily offering these social welfare facilities support, we can prevent the spread and the worsening of cases, which in turn suppresses the hospital occupancy rates in Okinawa.”
(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)
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