Japanese region says deaths at home surge amid COVID-19 wave

Tokyo: A growing number of Japanese people are dying of COVID-19 at home as more infectious variants of the coronavirus fuel a fourth wave of infections and hospital resources are stretched to the verge of collapse.

Public anger with the government over its handling of the crisis is growing as are doubts about the viability of holding the Olympic Games in just over 10 weeks, as a vaccination campaign struggles to build up steam. "Compared to the number of infections, the number of beds for severe cases is very limited in Japan," Yasutoshi Kido, a professor at Osaka City University's Graduate School of Medicine, said on Tuesday.