Coronavirus infections in Japan are just a fraction of other places, yet officials have continued to say the health system is under strain -- challenging Japan's image as a medically resource rich nation. We looked into that disconnect w/ @MarikaKatanuma https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-08/covid-exposes-weakness-in-japan-s-top-tier-healthcare-system

Japan may be known for having the world's longest living citizens & an abundance of hospital beds & medical equipment, but that doesn't make it pandemic prepared. People like to cite Japan's high # of hospital beds, but the # of doctors is level or less than other rich nations 1/

The usual strengths in Japan's health system worked against it. Many private hospitals geared towards preventative & general care competing against each other means better services for patients -- but during a pandemic, it means lack of coordination and not enough specialists. 2/

It also meant the system lacked flexibility - while in the EU patients/resources were moved across countries, in Japan it was difficult to do that b/t prefectures. So some urban areas were overwhelmed while other Covid beds stood empty. 3/

Many private hospitals are small w/ no specialized staff trained for infectious disease -- apparently only a third have the ability to take in Covid patients. Some have also been unwilling to -- fearing reputational risk or becoming site of an outbreak. 4/

By no means a complete picture but some food for thought as Covid case numbers fall in Japan but the medical system is still considered insecure. Many thanks to the people that spoke w/ us and explained things so well, including @MNHR_Labo /END