Tokyo
CNN
—
Japan will consider downgrading Covid-19 to the same category as seasonal flu this spring, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Friday.
Kishida said he had instructed health ministry officials to discuss the move, and said his administration would also review rules on face masks and other pandemic measures.
Kishida said, “In order to further advance our efforts to ‘coexist with the coronavirus’ and return Japan to a normal state, we will gradually shift the various policies and measures we have taken so far.”
Daily Covid-19 cases in Japan have declined in recent weeks, but the country is still facing about 100,000 new infections a day.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Covid-19 is classified as a Type 2 infectious disease, the same as tuberculosis and bird flu. Officials are currently discussing reclassifying it to Class 5, the lowest rank that includes seasonal flu.
Japan fully reopened its borders to overseas visitors last October after more than two years of pandemic restrictions, ending one of the world’s toughest border controls.
Influenza – or common flu – and Covid-19 are both contagious respiratory diseases with similar symptoms, but they are caused by different viruses and require testing to confirm a diagnosis, he said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says: that website.
According to the CDC, the risk of death or hospitalization from Covid-19 is greatly reduced Most people become infected due to high levels of vaccination and herd immunity from previous infections.
However, the World Health Organization still lists the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic, in which it repeated latest update Recommend that people wear masks after recent exposure or close contact with Covid-19, and that “those in crowded, enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces” do the same doing.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called on governments last week Continue to share coronavirus sequence data as it continues to be important to detect and track the emergence and spread of new variants.
“We understand that countries cannot maintain the same level of testing and sequencing that they had during Omicron’s peak. At the same time, the world cannot close its eyes and hope that this virus will go away. It will not.” He said.
The news came as South Korea announced it would lift mask mandates in most indoor areas, with the exception of public transportation and medical facilities. The changes will take effect on Jan. 30, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duk-soo said on Friday.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the measures will be lifted after the Lunar New Year holidays when many people are expected to travel.
New Covid-19 cases, severe cases, and related deaths are all on the decline, and the country’s medical response capacity remains stable, according to KDCA.
Authorities strongly recommend that anyone with Covid-19-related symptoms, who belongs to a high-risk group, has been in recent contact with a positive case, or is in a crowded place to wear a mask. .
The prime minister said the relaxation of duties could cause a temporary spike in new cases, urging health officials to remain vigilant.
South Korea will lift most of its pandemic restrictions in May 2022, easing mask-wearing requirements outdoors. A seven-day home quarantine is still mandatory for anyone who tests positive.
The country has also restricted travel from mainland China and implemented testing requirements for people arriving from China, Hong Kong and Macau after Beijing eased Covid restrictions.
