A history of suicide attempts is one of the greatest risk factors for suicide. Therefore, appropriate intervention for patients with a history of attempted suicide is important to help prevent suicide reattempts. Not all patients who attempt suicide are directly referred to psychiatric care, and those with acute physical injuries are usually referred to emergency care facilities to deal with these first. We have been working as staff members at an emergency center since 2005 and have been providing crisis intervention for cases of attempted suicide. Although the number of patients with a history of attempted suicide admitted to the emergency center had been decreasing, as the number of suicides in Japan decreased, this decrease was halted in 2015, and the number of attempted suicide cases began to increase gradually. We investigated the trend in the number of suicide attempt cases by age group and found that the number of young suicide attempters is on the increase. This trend is thought to be related to the overall increase in suicide attempt cases.
 In 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic occurred and resulted in an overall crisis. In Japan, because of the increase in the number of infected people and the strained medical system, a state of emergency was declared multiple times. Concurrently, the number of suicides, which had been on a downward trend, increased in 2020, and a link to COVID-19 has been suggested. The number of attempted suicide cases admitted to the emergency center fluctuated along with the infection status in the region, and the number of attempted suicide cases among women and young people increased compared with previous years. There were some cases in which the COVID-19 infection was thought to be directly or indirectly involved in the reason for the suicide attempt. Interventions for suicide attempt cases are often more difficult than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic; therefore, it is necessary to devise effective interventions for suicide attempt cases under such circumstances.
 Authors' abstract