Photo/Illutration Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura asks residents to refrain from visiting their loved ones at facilities for elderly people on July 11 at the Osaka prefectural government building. (Chifumi Shinya)

OSAKA--With the rapid spread of COVID-19 cases abating in Osaka Prefecture, elderly residents in the prefecture will no longer be asked to refrain from nonessential outings starting Aug. 28.

The Osaka prefectural government made the decision at its COVID-19 task force meeting on Aug. 25.

“We decided the period of infections rapidly spreading has passed,” Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said after the meeting.

The prefectural government will still ask the elderly and their family members living with them to refrain from going to places with high risks of infection from Aug. 28. 

Many clusters in facilities for elderly people are being reported.

Osaka prefectural officials will continue asking residents to refrain from visiting their loved ones at such facilities, in principle, until Sept. 27.

Osaka confirmed 17,182 new COVID-19 cases on Aug. 25. Twenty-four related deaths were also reported.

To prevent clinics from becoming packed with patients complaining of a fever, telemedicine for young people with mild symptoms will be continued for about a month.

After the central government announced a plan to revise the case-count system that required tracking every COVID-19 case, which posed a burden on medical workers, some local governments are considering reporting only specific groups, such as those 65 years old or older and people at risk of becoming seriously ill.

However, Yoshimura said the prefecture is not ready to follow suit. 

“In the current situation, disadvantages still outweigh any advantages,” he said.

Yoshimura said issuing certificates for being quarantined at home or in facilities and providing food-delivery services to patients who are recovering at home could be more difficult without a complete picture of those who have contracted the virus. 

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