In Japan's elder-care homes, coronavirus tests limits of overstretched staff

An elderly care home where according to local media more than 40 residents and staff members have been infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen in Tokyo, Japan May 4, 2020. Picture taken May 4, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato

TOKYO (Reuters) - At the Tokyo elder-care home where 27-year-old Yoshimu works, the coronavirus has stretched already tight staffing, leaving residents to sometimes sit longer in soiled diapers or to steal food from one another.

"Everything's slower. If feeding them takes longer, then things like toileting are delayed," said Yoshimu, who declined to give her last name because of the sensitivity of the issue. "We really try not to make them wait but sometimes their diapers can leak."