Photo/Illutration A company president works from home in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, in May 2020 after coming into close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The government shortened the self-quarantine period for people who came in close contact with those infected with the novel coronavirus to five days.

It announced an official decision in the afternoon of July 22 after a meeting of relevant Cabinet ministers, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and health minister Shigeyuki Goto.

The move comes as new COVID-19 cases are surging across Japan, including in Tokyo. The capital’s daily count topped 30,000 for the first time on July 21.

The new measure is aimed at minimizing the impact of the spike in infections on social and economic activities as a growing number of medical professionals are missing work to self-isolate after coming into close contact with infected individuals.

Close contacts are currently being asked to self-quarantine at home or other accommodation facilities for seven days, in principle. They can freely go outside on the fifth day after testing negative for the virus with antigen test kits for two days in a row from the fourth day.

The government also shortened their self-isolation period to three days on condition that their test results come back negative on the second and third days.

The government will distribute COVID-19 test kits at medical institutions to urge people with symptoms to test for the virus themselves, as hospitals’ outpatient services for those with fevers are being strained following the recent surge in infections.

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