What Japan's politicians don't see: How COVID failures tore apart a family in Tokyo

TOKYO -- On Oct. 31, Japan heads to the polls for the House of Representatives election to deliver its verdict on a period in which the administrations of former Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga have attempted various measures to curb the coronavirus, but many have still suffered. The Mainichi Shimbun spoke to one man who lost his father to COVID-19 following a delay in hospitalization and whose life was changed irreparably by the chaos brought by the coronavirus.

As the fifth infections wave was dying down in late September, Yuichi, a 59-year-old employee at a company in Tokyo's Ota Ward, was preparing to move out of the apartment he lived in with his parents until only about a month earlier. All that remained in a corner of the bare room long since emptied of furniture and other possessions was a photograph of his smiling parents. "I found it while arranging their luggage," he said. "I thought I'd take this with me. After all, it's sad to come back and say, 'I'm home,' and no one replies."

Issues brought by the coronavirus caused a complete change in Yuichi's life. He and his parents all contracted the virus. His father died, and his mother is now in a condition that makes it difficult for her to live at home. She is currently hospitalized.

His 86-year-old mother, who rarely goes out due to dementia, was the first they realized was infected. On Aug. 4, they received a call from the day care facility for seniors she attended twice a week, telling them she had a fever of 38 degrees Celsius. Although they knew from a test that she was positive, her condition was deemed mild. She was not admitted to hospital, and left to recover at home.

Soon she was bedridden. The next day, Yuichi's 89-year-old father tested positive. When he told the public health center he wanted his father hospitalized, the center responded that there was "no hospital that can accept him."

On Aug. 8, when a doctor came to visit the family for the first time, they found that Yuichi's mother had a blood oxygen saturation level of only around 80%, far below the 93%-level classed as "moderate symptoms II" requiring hospital admission. The doctor told the public health center she "looks like she'll die," and somehow, they found her a hospital place. Conversely, Yuichi's father had 90% blood oxygen saturation, and no hospital could be found for him.

Yuichi himself subsequently tested positive. He did everything he could to take care of his father, fueled by the thought that he didn't want to see him die. But even when his father collapsed in the kitchen and could not move his body, they still couldn't find a hospital that would take him.

It wasn't until nine days after his father had tested positive that the public health center told them a hospital bed had been found. Yuichi felt relieved, like it was a miracle. Perhaps because he felt able to relax, his own health took a turn for the worse. His blood oxygen saturation fell as far as 92%, and he said it took about a week for him to make a recovery.

At the same time, X-rays of his father's lungs showed they were already completely white. "It's over for me," he told his son. His breathing was strained over the phone, and he seemed to be struggling. About two weeks after his admission to hospital, Yuichi's father died. The family was not able to be present during the cremation, and he returned home as ashes. And while Yuichi's mother did turn a corner on the virus, she remained bedridden at the hospital. A doctor told him her chances of returning to everyday life were slim.

Kazuma Tashiro, head of Hinata Zaitaku Clinic Sanno and who checked on all three family members, said, "If he had been admitted to hospital sooner and given medicine and other fundamental treatment, the father too stood a good chance of being saved." Health care providers are facing a multitude of issues, including in procuring staff to attend to coronavirus patient beds. Tashiro stressed the need for a response to this problem, saying, "At the worst of the fifth wave, it was still the case that 35% of beds for coronavirus patients in the capital were empty. Ahead of the sixth wave, it's of the utmost importance that the rate of usage is brought up."

Yuichi said with a sense of disappointment: "It would have been good if we had a system where, if you call an ambulance, you can expect to be hospitalized." His father's hobby was fishing, and his skill at preparing fish meant he took the lead making dinner. When Yuichi came home from work, he would always find the table laid with dishes including yakisoba noodles and ramen. Now, he will never get to hear his father announce to his mother that their son has come home.

When he was laid up at home recovering from COVID-19, Yuichi would turn on the TV while he had an oxygen concentrator attached to his mouth. On it he saw patients like him struggling at home, and doctors doing their all for people who could not find a hospital to be admitted to.

"Doctors, the public health center and the people in the field all did everything they could for us even when they were struggling. It seems politicians aren't looking at the terrible conditions on the ground. I understand that making the economy run is important, but I want them to think about countermeasures that prioritize stopping there being more people with severe COVID-19."

(Japanese original by Takayuki Kanamori, Tokyo City News Department)