key: cord-0720770-h7qbzm99
authors: Nakamura, Mami; Hitosugi, Masahito
title: Emerging COVID‐19‐related deaths during home recuperation in Japan
date: 2021-02-23
journal: Geriatr Gerontol Int
DOI: 10.1111/ggi.14143
sha: b24383c05ccd034939cbedb48524a1f52a030353
doc_id: 720770
cord_uid: h7qbzm99

nan

home, and die suddenly without medical providers recognizing the deterioration of their condition.

An effective system of follow up for non-admitted patients is required. Monitoring of body temperature by staff at a regional health center is inadequate, because most of them are nonmedical providers who are not trained for medical interview. Also, considering the phenomenon of so-called "happy hypoxemia," where patients do not experience subjective symptoms until reaching very low PaO 2 , 5 periodic checks using a pulse oximeter are necessary. Radiological examination of the chest is also required 5-7 days after onset considering the time course of COVID-19 that progresses to pneumonia. 6 However, given that nine of the 17 aforementioned deaths in Japan occurred within 4 days after diagnosis, closer observation would be desirable. The telehealth service introduced by Tan et al. supports the control of chronic conditions of older adults to minimize their traveling to hospitals, 1 but similar service might be of assistance to check the conditions of in-house COVID-19 patients. The establishment of collaboration with local home doctors might reduce the burden on medium-to large-scale hospitals that must treat patients requiring admission, and if social workers or nurses at geriatric care facilities join to support the communication between doctors and patients, the burden on regional health centers would also be reduced.

The capacity of treatment and follow up for COVID-19 patients by admission is almost at the threshold, but we still have a method for out of hospital care. No more deaths from COVID-19 should be handled as "unnatural deaths".

Facilitating telehealth for older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: strategies from a Singapore geriatric center

Announcement of partial revision to the enforcement order regulating infections of the novel coronavirus as a designated infectious disease

Seventeen deaths at home or in hotels. Nishi-Nihon Shinbun

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan. Guideline for COVID-19

The pathophysiology of 'happy' hypoxemia in COVID-19

Virology, transmission, and pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Department of Legal Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science, Tsukinowa, Seta, Otsu, Japan