In Japan, a foreigner’s coronavirus ordeal sheds light on country’s troubled pandemic response

The account offers a first-hand look at the difficulties faced by those who exhibit Covid-19 symptoms in Japan and want testing, treatment or advice

It comes amid reports of hospitals turning away suspected cases, which a specialist said was out of fear of the virus spreading within their facilities

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A doctor displays a swab used to test patients at a drive-through Covid-19 testing centre in Kanagawa prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, on Monday. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00am, 29 Apr 2020Updated: 8:07am, 29 Apr 2020

A foreigner’s account of being turned away by at least 15 hospitals in Japan while battling symptoms of a suspected coronavirus infection has been making waves on social media, attracting comments from others who have had similar experiences.

The woman, who did not want to be named, was finally able to get treatment with the help of her American friend Jordain Haley, who said the ordeal of securing a diagnosis in the country was not “unique to foreigners”.

Her experience also offers a first-hand look at how Japan, with more than 13,000 confirmed cases and 370 deaths so far, is struggling to treat coronavirus patients. Authorities are not legally empowered to enforce strict lockdowns like in other countries, nor penalise businesses or individuals for not following isolation guidelines, and although the government declared a nationwide state of emergency this month, it is unable to compel most hospitals to take in patients.

There have been reports of coronavirus patients being turned away because hospitals are not properly equipped to deal with the contagion, or cannot afford to shut down the routine surgeries and short hospital stays that provide their main sources of revenue.

There have been reports of hospitals in Japan turning away coronavirus patients. Photo: Kyodo

In an almost 3,000-word post recounting her friend’s story in the Covid-19 Japan Discussion Group on Facebook, Haley relayed the numerous difficulties that the two had even trying to secure a coronavirus test in Tokyo – despite her friend’s symptoms worsening over the course of three days to the point where she could “barely say a full sentence without launching into a minute long coughing fit”.

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