Sharjah24 – Reuters: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida outlined on Friday an urgent plan to increase hospital beds and medical resources in preparation for a possible resurgence of COVID-19 infections this winter.

After a deadly fifth wave of infections almost overwhelmed the medical system during the summer, infections and deaths have fallen dramatically as vaccinations have increased to cover more than 70% of the population.

Emergency measures covering most of the country were lifted last month, but health experts warn that cases will likely rebound, as they did in Japan last winter. Ahead of that, the government plans to boost hospital bed capacity by about 30%, bolster in-home care, and collect data to predict which hospitals will come under pressure.

"In parallel with strengthening the medical system, from December we will use IT systems to make public the number of hospital beds and conditions at each hospital," Kishida told reporters.

Kishida said earlier this week that the "trump card" in the government's pandemic fight was the procurement of oral treatments that could prevent the need for hospitalisation.