Photo/Illutration Nurses and administrative staff members at the Gunma prefectural health follow-up center in Maebashi provide consultations over the phone about health conditions and registration procedures on Sept. 26. (Sakura Kawamura)

The Japanese government plans to limit in-person treatment for fevers to the elderly and children to prevent fever outpatient clinics from becoming overwhelmed.

That decision is being driven by concerns there could be simultaneous outbreaks of the novel coronavirus and seasonal influenza this winter that would heap strain on the health care system, according to government officials.

Other people without underlying conditions will be encouraged to self-test for COVID-19. If they test positive, they would be asked to recuperate at home. But if they test negative, they could then receive an online diagnosis for the flu.

The government aims to shore up the medical system to help those at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms.

It submitted proposals at a closed-door meeting of a panel of experts advising the health ministry on Oct. 12. It is expected to officially announce the new measures on Oct. 13.

According to senior health ministry officials, the proposed measures will encourage people at high risk of developing severe symptoms to visit fever outpatient clinics or their family doctors.

The measures will be intended for people aged 65 or older, elementary school students, younger children and people with underlying health conditions.

People between the ages of junior high school and 64 without underlying conditions will be asked to self-test with antigen test kits.

If they test positive, they would be registered at health follow-up centers that were set up in all prefectures amid the seventh wave of the pandemic. They would then be encouraged to recuperate at home.

Even if they test negative for COVID-19, those who suspect they may have influenza or another illness and want to see a doctor can be diagnosed online or by phone at general medical institutions that are not fever outpatient clinics.

They can also use the current system by receiving a prescription for the anti-influenza drug Tamiflu and having it delivered to their homes.

The government plans to ask general medical institutions to cooperate by seeing as many non-COVID-19 patients as possible, including through face-to-face consultations.

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