Hurry up to respond to home medical treatment Toyama prefecture call center preparations to increase due to corona

● 350 people used meal support in January and February　The spread of the new coronavirus continues in the prefecture, and with the number of home care patients approaching 5,000, the prefecture is busy responding. In January, we opened a call center to handle health observations. Although the number of staff was temporarily reduced in late February, the number of new infections hit a record high on the 2nd, and preparations were made to increase the number of staff again. In January and February, 350 people used the facility's meal support, and the prefecture is enhancing support to prepare for sudden changes in their condition.　The prefecture is in charge of caring for home care patients in 14 municipalities, excluding Toyama City. Although it is said that home care patients have mild or no symptoms and are at low risk of becoming severe, the prefecture strengthened its support system in preparation for an epidemic of the Omicron strain. At the call center, in addition to checking the phone, the health observation tool developed by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is used to check for fevers and other issues on smartphones and tablet devices. In mid-February, a maximum of 12 people were supported. Currently, the number has been reduced to six, but Masahiro Kikuchi, head of the infectious disease countermeasures division, said, "We are preparing to increase it again." Health observations were performed twice a day during the "fifth wave" of infection in the summer of last year, but due to the increase in the number of people recuperating at home, they are currently only able to observe them once. As for meal support, we send packs of rice and canned food. With the highly contagious Omicron strain, the infection spreads to all members of the same household, and in some cases, patients need to be treated at home for a long time. The prefectural government has posted a bookmark on its website that describes points to keep in mind when recuperating at home, calling for countermeasures. ●Doubling the number of oxygen measuring devices　In addition, 1,000 "pulse oximeters", devices that measure the oxygen saturation in the blood, were added, bringing the total to 2,000. With the cooperation of medical associations in each region, a system has been put in place to provide telemedicine to those receiving medical treatment at home. Because many patients have mild or no symptoms, it is said that they are not ready to conduct telemedicine. On February 14, the number of home care patients in the prefecture topped 3,000 for the first time. The number exceeded 4,000 on the 20th, and reached a record high of 4,988 on the 28th. There were 4,904 people on the 2nd, but the peak of the spread of infection is not in sight, and it is possible that the number will exceed 5,000. Kikuchi said, "We have to be particularly careful about domestic infections."