A hospital in Osaka says no prospect is yet in sight to resume medical services following Monday's ransomware cyberattack on its medical record system.

Osaka General Medical Center has been suspending non-emergency outpatient services and operations, and has stopped accepting emergency patients.

Hospital officials say it is still unclear when the system will recover, and it may take some time to resume medical services.

The hospital has, in response, begun transferring inpatients to other hospitals by ambulance. It is also asking inpatients waiting for operations to leave the hospital for the time being.

Hospital officials say they are discussing recovery steps with an information security expert dispatched from the Japanese government.

The officials say it is expected to take a while to determine the extent of damage to the hospital system caused by the ransomware virus.

They also say their hospital will do their utmost to enable inpatients to receive appropriate treatment, by seeking the cooperation of other medical institutions in the region.

Ransom software encrypts victims' data, rendering it inaccessible. Hackers will typically offer to unlock it in return for a ransom payment.