Japan to limit hospital care as Covid-19 cases hit new high

A visitor receives a shot of the Pfizer vaccine at the Tokyo Vaccination Centre (Stanislav Kogiku/AP)

Japan’s government is introducing a contentious policy in which coronavirus patients with moderate symptoms will isolate at home instead of in hospitals, as new cases surge in Tokyo to record levels during the Olympic Games.

Prime minister Yoshihide Suga’s plan, which aims to save hospital beds almost exclusively for those with serious symptoms or at risk of developing them, is a major policy shift as new cases in the capital have more than tripled since the Olympics began on July 23.