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At the end of December, Su fell ill with Covid-19.
The single mother of two had a persistent fever and difficulty breathing. She knew that her asthma and chronic bronchitis had made her vulnerable to the worst effects of the disease.
“I wondered if I would wake up tomorrow,” said the 32-year-old, who asked not to be identified due to the stigma Covid-19 carries in Japan.
When her condition worsened, she called the Hyogo Prefecture Public Health Center for help, but she said no one answered his calls.
Instead, she had to isolate herself in her small bedroom, while her 3 and 6-year-olds slept alone in the living room for almost two weeks. Her mother was dropping off food for the family but couldn’t stay because the children had been exposed to the virus and couldn’t get tested for almost a week. Su said she communicates with her children via a tablet – and can often hear them fighting.
“My grandchildren were trapped alone in the small living room without going out at all for 10 days.” I felt bad, in a terrible state, but I felt more pain leaving my children alone. “
A representative from the Hyogo Prefecture Health Center could not speak directly about Su’s case, but said that even though they tried to contact patients in isolation on a daily basis, the holiday period was incredibly busy.
The pandemic has pushed Japan’s national healthcare system to the brink, as the country faces its worst wave since the start of the epidemic. Cases have more than doubled in the past two months to more than 406,000 cases.
As of February 4, more than 8,700 people in 10 prefectures, who have tested positive for Covid-19, were waiting for a hospital bed or a place in an isolation center. The previous week, more than 18,000 people in 11 prefectures were waiting, according to the prefectural health ministries.
This means people are dying in their homes from Covid-19, fighting worsening conditions on their own and spreading the virus to family members.
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