The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has opened an "oxygen station" to provide coronavirus patients with supplemental oxygen amid a rapid surge of serious cases, according to NHK WORLD-JAPAN.
The oxygen station opened in a large facility in Shibuya Ward on Monday.
It has 130 beds and is staffed by two to three doctors and 25 nurses who will take care of the patients around the clock.
The station accepts infected people with mild symptoms who are staying at home but who call an ambulance when their condition worsens. Those who doctors consider to be in serious condition will be taken to hospital for treatment.
Patients at the oxygen station will be transferred to hospital if supplemental oxygen doesn't help them get better, while those who improve will return home.
Tokyo officials hope the station will help reduce the workload on the emergency services and public health centers.
They plan to open two more stations to increase the total number of beds to 400.
As of Sunday, more than 39,000 people in Tokyo are recuperating at home or waiting for a decision by health authorities on whether they should be hospitalized or isolated, either at accommodation facilities or at home.
