Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida talks to reporters about the government’s COVID-19 measures outside his office in Tokyo on July 29. (Koichi Ueda)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on July 31 suggested he would consider reclassifying COVID-19 to a lower category under a law after the seventh wave of infections subsides.

 “I don’t intend to reclassify (COVID-19) now, when infections are spreading,” Kishida told reporters outside the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo on July 31.

“I will carefully consider the diseases categorized as Type II in the future, while exploring the best timing for recategorization and taking into account the possibility of (the virus) mutating," he added.  

COVID-19 cases are rapidly rising across the nation amid the seventh wave.

The infectious disease prevention law places infectious diseases into five categories--Types I through V--based on their infectiousness and the seriousness of their symptoms.

Currently, the novel coronavirus is categorized as “equivalent to a Type II” infectious disease.

This means prefectural governors can advise COVID-19 patients to be hospitalized or restrict their work activities.

However, it also means strict measures required for Type II infectious diseases impose huge burdens on health centers and hospitals if cases spike, including local public health centers needing to be aware of the number of all patients in their areas.

In addition, the current categorization means businesses and public transport could cease to function if many employees or staff members must be isolated after coming into close contact with those infected.

Therefore, considering the Omicron variant is less likely to cause serious symptoms, experts, governors and mayors have called on the government to reclassify COVID-19 as a Type V disease.

Type V diseases include the seasonal flu, whereas Type II diseases include tuberculosis.

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