By YUKI EDAMATSU/ Staff Writer
January 28, 2022 at 17:51 JST
The government building housing the health ministry in Tokyo (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The health ministry plans to further shorten the isolation period for people in close contact with COVID-19 patients from 10 days to seven days to ensure society can continue to function as infections spread.
The government is expected to make a final decision on the matter after discussions as early as Jan. 28.
The isolation period for people in close contact with COVID-19 patients used to be 14 days. But the ministry earlier this month reduced the period to 10 days after studies showed the incubation period of the Omicron variant was around three days.
The ministry is now concerned that if the rising number of close-contact people continues at the current pace, societal functions, including health care, could be difficult if they all must isolate for 10 days.
According to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the risk of suffering from COVID-19 symptoms is less than 1 percent when 10 days have passed since a person was in close contact with a virus carrier. The risk is about 5 percent after seven days.
The government has been discussing what level of risk could be acceptable.
Infectious disease experts who advise the government on anti-virus measures previously said the risk after the seven-day isolation period could match that for the 14-day period if the health conditions of those close-contact individuals are monitored.
In addition, those deemed “essential workers” for people’s daily lives, such as transportation personnel, can end their close-contact isolation period on the sixth day at the earliest if they test negative for the virus.
The health ministry plans to let them leave on the fifth day if they test negative.
In Okinawa Prefecture, workers in elderly nursing care who come in close contact with an infected individual can continue working and avoid isolation if they test negative every day.
The ministry plans to allow local governments in other prefectures to give nursing care staff the same treatment if they come in close contact.
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