Japan Today
27th January 2023 – (Tokyo) An expert panel of Japan’s health ministry agreed Friday to downgrade the legal status of the novel coronavirus to the same category as common infectious diseases such as seasonal influenza.
Based on the downgrading to Class 5, the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would be able to ease existing intensive COVID-19 measures, including limiting the movements of infected individuals and their close contacts.
The reclassification of COVID-19, likely effective May 8, is expected to be formally approved by the government later Friday, a senior ruling lawmaker said.
The imminent downgrade would pave the way for a normalization of social and economic activities in Japan, possibly enabling unvaccinated non-resident foreigners to enter the country without PCR tests or quarantining.
In Japan, COVID-19 is currently designated as a special category equivalent to or stricter than Class 2, which covers infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, under the law.
The first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Japan in January 2020, after the virus was detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.
Kishida’s government plans to continue shouldering medical costs, including its vaccination program, for now and will “gradually” review the ongoing medical service system, said Natsuo Yamaguchi, chief of the Komeito party.
Komeito is the junior ruling coalition partner of the Liberal Democratic Party, headed by Kishida. Yamaguchi said at a party gathering that he was briefed by the premier about the government’s plan over the phone.
While Kishida has been keen to revise rules on wearing protective face masks, he is considering making a final judgment on the issue around May 8, Yamaguchi also said.
The scheduled date of May 8 is the first business day after the end of Japan’s Golden Week holidays this year.
Kishida has set that date to avoid difficulties in hospitals, in case the number of COVID-19 cases surges again during the holiday season, when they operate with fewer than usual staff members, government sources said.
Japan has lagged behind other industrialized economies in relaxing COVID-19 restrictions against a backdrop of lingering fears about soaring infections.
Once COVID-19 is downgraded to Class 5, the quarantine period of seven days for people infected with the virus and five days for those who have been in close contact with an infectious patient will be scrapped.
If the plans go ahead, COVID-19 patients will also receive medical treatment in ordinary hospitals instead of designated facilities, and the government will stop paying costs for hospitalization and care of infected people.
In March, the Kishida administration will decide how much funding the government will provide for the treatment of COVID-19 patients and how long such funding will continue, the sources said.
State of emergency or quasi-state of emergency declarations, meanwhile, will not be imposed, even if the number of infections spikes again in the future.
Japan is in the midst of its eighth wave of infections, but the government will downgrade the legal status of COVID-19 as the vaccination program, among other factors, has made the disease less deadly amid increasing calls to rejuvenate the economy hit hard by the outbreak.