Photo/Illutration The Tower of the Sun structure in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, a symbol of the 1970 Osaka Expo, is illuminated in yellow to reflect Osaka Prefecture’s COVID-19 emergency warning. (Satoru Ogawa)

Japan’s health minister said the government is taking every precaution to contain a possible eighth wave in the COVID-19 pandemic this winter following a spike in cases nationwide.

Speaking after a Nov. 8 Cabinet meeting, Katsunobu Kato called on the public to stock up on COVID-19 antigen test kits as well as fever and pain relief medicines to prepare for the risk of concurrent influenza and novel coronavirus outbreaks in the weeks ahead.

Health ministry figures show that the number of new COVID-19 patients across Japan in the week through Nov. 7 was 1.42 times that of the preceding seven-day period.

The increase was especially notable in Hokkaido and the Tohoku region of northern Japan, ministry officials said.

“We will be proactive and do what we have to do without fail,” Kato said at a news conference, adding that the government is asking prefectural authorities to ensure they have the necessary medical backup.

Asked whether the government will continue to bear all costs needed for administering COVID-19 vaccines when its policy of free jabs expires at the end of March, Kato said, “We intend to make an appropriate decision, taking into account such factors as how the infection is spreading and the law on infectious diseases.”

Members of a subcommittee of the Fiscal System Council, an advisory panel to the finance minister, said at its meeting Nov. 7 that COVID-19 shots should be recategorized as “regular vaccinations,” just like those for influenza.

That would likely require recipients to shoulder part of the cost from the new fiscal year starting April 1.

On Nov. 8, Hokkaido marked a record daily tally of new COVID-19 patients at 9,136. The figure rose to 9,545 on Nov. 9.

New cases in Tokyo topped 8,000 on Nov. 8 for the first time in about six weeks at 8,665.

Haruo Ozaki, chairman of the Tokyo Medical Association, told a Nov. 8 news conference the capital is “on the verge of entering the eighth wave.”

The Osaka prefectural government the same day raised its alert level from green to yellow based on its own barometer, which it calls the “Osaka model.”

A yellow signal means the prefectural government is urging residents to be on the alert for a surge in infections.

The last time the prefectural government issued the yellow alert was Oct. 10.

As of Nov. 6-7, the occupancy rate of hospital beds in Osaka Prefecture set aside for COVID-19 patients reached 20 percent, one of the thresholds that prefectural officials use to consider issuing a yellow alert.

Members of a task force set up by the prefectural government to tackle the health crisis were unable to decide during a Nov. 8 meeting whether Osaka has entered the eighth wave.

But they agreed that anti-COVID-19 measures should be escalated to prepare for the possibility of simultaneous influenza epidemics and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Related News