Joe Tomei here with another update from the JET prefectural advisors, Bilal Khan & Lily McDermott. As always, we thank them for sharing these with us.

Yesterday, the national government decided to lift the state of emergency for 39 prefectures, including Kumamoto. A state of emergency remains in place for Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Hokkaido. The government will revisit the question of whether it is possible to lift the state of emergency for any of the remaining prefectures on 21 May next week. https://corona.go.jp/news/pdf/kinkyujitaisengen_gaiyou0514.pdf https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200514/k10012430241000.html

What this means for Kumamoto In his address to the people of Kumamoto (following the partial lifting of the state of emergency last night), Governor Kabashima announced the following:

The prefecture’s request to refrain from unnecessary and non-urgent outings was lifted earlier this week. However, although the number of new confirmed infections is decreasing, there are still areas of the country which remain under a state of emergency, and the movement of people may result in the spread of infection. Even after the lifting of the state of emergency, the prefecture is continuing to request that people: ① Avoid unnecessary travel ② Avoid visiting/returning to Kumamoto (to those who live/work in other prefectures) ③ Avoid moving across prefectural lines, and ④ Avoid going to places in which the 3 Cs are present https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/kiji_33007.html

Even though the state of emergency has also been lifted for Fukuoka (meaning that no part of Kyushu is under a state of emergency at this time), the existing agreement between the governors in the Kyushu region is still in place, and residents are asked not to travel between different prefectures in Kyushu until at least the end of this month (31 May). https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/common/UploadFileOutput.ashx?c_id=3&id=32686&sub_id=5&flid=233423

Strengthening Kumamoto’s health care system in preparation for a potential second wave of infections In his address last night, the Governor raised the following points about Kumamoto’s response and preparedness: Kumamoto is working hard to both enhance testing capacity and expand the provision of health care. In terms of per capita PCR testing rate, Kumamoto Prefecture ranks 4th highest of all 47 prefectures in Japan, and there is enough capacity to ensure that everyone can be tested promptly whenever a doctor determines it is necessary. Kumamoto has from the beginning implemented testing standards different to the nationwide standards, resulting in the early detection of more cases. For instance, the national testing guidelines for people who may have been involved in a cluster are: close contact with a confirmed infected individual within 14 days and having symptoms. However in Kumamoto, since 11 March, if you have any connection at all with a cluster, you can be tested even if you lack symptoms or more that 15 days have passed. https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/common/UploadFileOutput.ashx?c_id=3&id=33007&sub_id=1&flid=233954 A total of 312 specialised hospital beds have now been secured for infected patients. For mildly ill patients, agreements have been made with 10 hotels/accommodation facilities, totalling 867 rooms. This is the largest number of secured rooms nationwide (outside of special alert prefectures). https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/common/UploadFileOutput.ashx?c_id=3&id=33007&sub_id=1&flid=233953 The prefecture is currently studying the establishment of a specialised testing centre, and prefab testing facilities with drive-through capacity have already been implemented at regional health centres throughout Kumamoto. (Note: Kumamoto City’s specialised PCR test centre with drive-through services, capable of conducting 80 tests per day on referred outpatients without having to go through a local health center, will be opened by the end of June. https://this.kiji.is/633846618248823905) Osaka Prefecture established its own independent numerical criteria regrading when to withdraw business closure requests based on the positive-test case rate, number of cases for which the route of infection is unknown, and rate of hospital bed usage. Kumamoto’s current situation clears all three of these categories. https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/kiji_33007.html

Industry guidelines for preventing the spread of infection As part of adopting the “new lifestyle”, every industry in Japan is being asked to co-operate in taking stronger measures to prevent the spread of infection. A full compilation of all of the various operation guidelines created by different industry groups is available on the official government COVID-19 website. You can check out the guidelines for all types of businesses such as cinemas, gynmasiums, museums, driving schools, restaurants, waste management, media, hospitality, food, finance, manufacturing, transport (divided by industry type and regulating ministry) here: https://corona.go.jp/prevention/pdf/guideline_20200514.pdf

Kumamoto City releases detailed annotated translation for Special Fixed Benefits application form You can see information about the application for Kumamoto City here: https://www.city.kumamoto.jp/corona/hpkiji/pub/detail.aspx?c_id=5&type=top&id=28055 The translated form here is here: https://www.city.kumamoto.jp/common/UploadFileDsp.aspx?c_id=5&id=28055&sub_id=4&flid=205102 *Please note that the application form will vary by municipality.