As coronavirus infections soars, Japan increases testing

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan, alarmed by rising coronavirus deaths and the specter of the collapse of the medical system, is scrambling to expand testing with drive-through facilities and general practitioners helping to collect samples.

For weeks Japan has limited its testing for the coronavirus, which emerged in neighboring China late last year, despite calls from many health experts who see testing as vital to detecting and isolating cases and slowing the spread.

Japan conducted about 52,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests in March, or just 16% of the number carried out in South Korea, according to data from Oxford University.

Experts say Japan’s strategy of keeping the number of PCR tests low has made it difficult to trace the disease as it spread in Tokyo and other big cities and led to a wave of in-hospital infections, crippling some facilities.

The decision to expand testing came as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this week expanded a state of emergency, originally issued for Tokyo and six other areas, to the entire country, and warned of the growing burden on health facilities.

“With help from regional medical associations, we will set up testing centers. If home doctors have decided testing is necessary, test samples are taken at these centers and sent to private inspection firms,” Abe told a news conference on Friday.

“Thus, the burden on public health centers will be lessened.”

While the measures marked a shift in policy, it remains to be seen how effective they will be, experts say, as Japan struggles with red tape, staff shortages and the absence of centralized decision-making with no single agency coordinating the response to the disease.

There has been widespread criticism that phone lines for public health centers, set up by local governments and tasked to conduct screening for PCR test candidates, are always busy as people become more worried about infection.

Tokyo remains the hardest-hit place in Japan, with a record 201 additional cases reported by its governor on Friday, for a total of 2,796.

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