By AKIYOSHI ABE/ Staff Writer
November 12, 2022 at 14:36 JST
A woman in Hiroshima Prefecture receives a flu shot after being vaccinated against COVID-19. (Hideshi Nishimoto)
New government guidelines to tackle an expected eighth wave in COVID-19 cases this winter will have none of the rigorous restrictions that put a crimp on eating and drinking out a year ago.
The new four-level classification initiative agreed to by a panel of experts on Nov. 11 focuses more on ensuring the medical care structure does not come under undue stress.
There will be no requests to bars and restaurants to limit operating hours or not serve alcohol as happened when pre-emergency measures were implemented across much of the nation last winter.
Under the new classification, prefectural governors can issue a declaration for stronger measures when Level 3 is reached. The declaration would ask local residents to refrain from large gatherings at bars and restaurants and to forego participating at events that are heavily attended.
At Level 4, governors can issue a medical care emergency declaration that would call on as many people as possible to work from home, limit outings and travel to the bare minimum and postpone holding or attending large-scale events. But in both cases, there would be no binding order requiring residents to comply.
Prefectural governors will be asked to use hospital bed usage ratios as an indicator of whether a jurisdiction is at risk of its medical care structure becoming overwhelmed with cases that would leave hospitals unable to cope with a rush of out-patients seeking treatment for fevers or medical emergencies.
But at all levels, no restrictions will be placed on bars and restaurants nor will schools be asked to close.
“We will implement measures to prevent a spread of COVID-19 infections by placing emphasis on protecting those who are most vulnerable, such as senior citizens, while also maintaining social and economic activities,” said Shigeyuki Goto, the state minister in charge of dealing with the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Last winter when Japan was in the grip of a sixth wave of infections, pre-emergency measures, which included requests to bars and restaurant to shorten their business hours, were implemented in 36 prefectures. A timely rollout of COVID-19 vaccines kept down the number of patients who developed serious symptoms.
As a result, calls for bars and restaurants to shorten their business hours also decreased as more cases developed of infections spreading among family members.
No restrictions on pedestrian traffic or travel were imposed this summer during the seventh wave of infections.
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