Joe Tomei here with another update from Bilal Khan & Lily McDermott, the Prefectural JET advisors.

more updates: Kumamoto Prefecture extends school closures Kumamoto Prefecture has extended the closures of prefectural schools until 31 May, and is requesting private and municipal schools to do the same. The prefecture is allowing schools to put in place special designated days on which students can come to school “登校日” (toukoubi) if necessary, but attendance days are to be restricted to the smallest number of days possible.

The prefectural board of education has also released model timetables/examples of home study tasks using textbooks, encouraging the proactive use of school webpages and submission of assigned homework on designated school attendance days. https://kumanichi.com/news/1445101/

Stricter health observation to be enforced for recovered patients Earlier this week, it came to light that a previously discharged individual was confirmed to be positive again for COVID-19. As a result, Kumamoto City has decided to study options for strengthening health observations of patients even after they test negative and are discharged, due to the possibility of the virus remaining in the body for extended periods of time.

Patients are to be observed continuously for 4 weeks after discharge, and will be required to fill out a check sheet of symptoms including fever, cough, malaise, sore throat, etc, as well as answer phone calls from health care workers once or twice a week during the 4 week period. Patients are being asked to stay at home for at least one week after being discharged from the hospital. https://this.kiji.is/627686027436885089

Kumamoto City announces new testing centre Kumamoto City announced plans to open a “Regional Outpatient Testing Centre” (地域外来検査センター, Chiiki Gairai Kensa Sentaa) in order to expand testing capacity. Some tests are to be outsourced to private inspection companies contracted by the city.

The City Medical Association is planning to rent land from the city for construction. The location and the start of construction remain undecided, but drive-through sample collections are being considered. Patients will be able to undergo tests at the Regional Outpatient Testing Centre without going through their public health center (保健所) as long as they have a referral from a medical doctor. https://this.kiji.is/626017519394538593?c=92619697908483575&fbclid=IwAR1dKZPr679YO2BrfRQnPrNvxLeBUzUf1fUuokYb3qJbv2kMQpyHle57kzY

Nagasaki cruise ship situation The number of cases reported in Nagasaki increased to 164. This large increase in confirmed cases is attributed to an outbreak on a foreign cruise ship. The number of cases in Nagasaki, excluding those on board the ship, is 17.

The cruise ship, called the Costa Atlantica, arrived in Nagasaki at the end of January for repairs and maintenance (even before the infections on the Princess Diamond cruise ship at Yokohama Port came to light). There are 632 people on board, and a request was made for those on board to avoid leaving the ship and going into Nagasaki City.

However, 40 new passengers boarded the ship beginning on 15 March, and it has been acknowledged that there were instances in which crew members left the ship. Mitsubishi Shipbuilding is currently conducting an investigation on the movements of all crew members, as well as on taxi companies which are believed to have accepted passengers from the ship.

It’s believed that someone aboard the ship was infected in late March. So far, 148 people on board are confirmed to have been infected. Severe cases are being treated in hospitals in Nagasaki Prefecture, which has asked the national government for additional support. Everyone else on board is currently staying in a single-occupancy cabin, while crew members delivering food and medical services to cabins are required to wear personal protective equipment. The government is currently trying to arrange for crew members who test negative to return to their home countries. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200426/k10012405981000.html https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASN4W6R93N4WTOLB001.html

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to permit dentists to conduct PCR tests The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has announced a new policy in which dentists will be allowed to collect PCR test samples in order to expand test capacity. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200426/k10012406561000.html

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare informs local governments that mild cases should be put in hotels The national government has instructed local governments that, if hospital beds are unavailable, mild or asymptomatic patients should be put in hotels with 24-hour health monitoring in place by default. This decision came following the death of a man in Saitama Prefecture who had tested positive but later died in his home after being told to convalesce there. https://www.sponichi.co.jp/society/news/2020/04/24/kiji/20200424s00042000292000c.html

In the case of parents who must look after children, self-isolating at home remains possible. Some local governments are rolling out “home-care packages” (自宅療養セット) with food and supplies so that patients do not need to leave home during their isolation. https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASN4T73QWN4SUTIL045.html

Some businesses introducing new measures While a small number of non-cooperative pachinko parlours have flouted closure requests (https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO58529350X20C20A4AC8000/), other businesses are introducing stricter measures to control the spread of COVID-19. For instance, convenience store Lawson will no longer be allowing customers to use in-store toilet facilities (https://www3.nhk.or.jp/shutoken-news/20200428/1000048115.html) and McDonalds will be closing in-store dining nationwide, not just in large cities where the state of emergency was originally declared. (https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200428/k10012408481000.html?utm_int=news_contents_news-main_001)

Stay Home Video Website The Tokyo Metropolitan government has launched a website with many free videos for people to keep themselves entertained while at home over Golden Week.

Many of the videos have English and Chinese subtitles. Governor Koike also announced that a collaboration video with Marie Kondo will be released and distributed through the Tokyo Douga website. https://tokyodouga.jp/ https://www.koho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/diary/news/stay_home.html https://www3.nhk.or.jp/shutoken-news/20200424/1000047967.html

MEXT considering shift of Japanese school year to begin in September At a press conference earlier this afternoon, the The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said that MEXT is currently entertaining the option of shifting the beginning of the school year to September. Currently, 90% of schools across the country remain closed. With the co-operation of local governments, school closures could be extended to September to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and re-open in September, potentially creating a new school year system for Japan. The minister said that this had been considered internally for some time, and making the change now would bring the Japanese school year in line with many other countries, potentially making international exchange easier. However, he explained that any such change could not be implemented from within the ministry itself, and would require the widespread co-operation of the entirety of Japanese society. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200428/k10012408711000.html https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO58570110Y0A420C2MM0000/