Tokyo opens oxygen station for COVID patients as cases surge

Japan has opened a facility in Tokyo to provide oxygen for up to 130 coronavirus patients with mild symptoms

TOKYO -- Japan on Monday opened a temporary facility in Tokyo to provide oxygen for up to 130 coronavirus patients with mild symptoms, as the capital's health care system grows severely strained. The so-called “oxygen station” in Tokyo’s Shibuya district is aimed at people who develop a problem while isolating at home or waiting for hospital vacancies, and is staffed by three doctors and 25 nurses. The idea is to temporarily treat mild cases with supplementary oxygen amid growing concerns that people may get sicker — and possibly start dying at home — in the absence of medical attention. Tokyo has been under emergency measures for the majority of the year, most recently since July 12. But new daily cases have increased more than tenfold since then to about 5,000 in Tokyo and 25,000 nationwide, quickly filling up hospital beds and forcing many people to recover at home, some of whom require supplemental oxygen.