Japan's public health centers buckling as coronavirus infections skyrocket

Officials at a public health center in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, contact people infected with the novel coronavirus on Thursday afternoon. A bar graph showing the daily count of infected people extends from the wall to the ceiling. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

The unprecedented speed of the spread of the novel coronavirus is severely straining operations at public health centers -- the front line of infection control.

At a public health center office in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, on Thursday afternoon, a bar graph showing the daily number of infections was too big to fit on the wall, and had to be extended onto the ceiling. Early this month, the ward's daily tally stood at fewer than 10, but on Tuesday, this figure had reached a record high of more than 300.