13,700 Heatstroke Sufferers Taken to Hospital in Japan Last Week

July 31, 2018

Tokyo- The number of people taken to hospital due to heatstroke in Japan in the week to Sunday came to 13,721, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said in a preliminary report Tuesday.

The figure was the second highest on a weekly basis since the survey started in 2008, after the record 22,647 in the preceding week, as severe heat wave continued to cripple the Japanese archipelago.

Of them, 39 people from 22 prefectures died.

By prefecture, Osaka saw the largest figure, at 1,160, followed by Tokyo, at 1,146, and Aichi, at 1,055.

Among western prefectures that were hit hard by torrential rains in July, the number of sufferers stood at 393 in Hiroshima, 379 in Okayama and 230 in Ehime.

People aged 65 or over accounted for 51.8 pct of the total number of sufferers taken to hospital in the latest reporting week.

The number of deaths stood at five in Saitama, four in Aichi and three each in Osaka, Hyogo and Oita.

On July 23, the first day of the reporting week, air temperatures rose to as high as 41.1 degrees Celsius in the city of Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, setting a record high in the nation. On the same day, the mercury hit 40.8 degrees in Ome, Tokyo, topping the 40-degree line for the first time in the Japanese capital.

In August, temperatures are expected to remain higher than normal-year levels, mainly in western Japan.

The agency called on people to keep hydrated and take regular breaks.

On Tuesday, the scorching hot weather continued across Japan, except for the southern part of the Kyushu southwestern region.

By noon (3 a.m. GMT), temperatures reached 36.8 degrees in the city of Oda in the western prefecture of Shimane, 35.9 degrees in the western city of Tottori, 35.8 degrees in the city of Aizuwakamatsu in the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima and the city of Toyooka in the western prefecture of Hyogo, and 35.4 degrees in the town of Saroma in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The agency issued high temperature warnings in most regions, excluding Kyushu.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency also said Tuesday that the number of people sent to hospital due to heatstroke in the country in June came to 5,269, up about 50 pct from a year before.

The number was the second largest for June since a survey for the month started in 2010. The largest number in June was 6,980, in 2011.

Of the total sufferers in June this year, five died while 103 were in serious conditions, the agency said. Jiji Press