Another update from the JET Prefectural Advisors, Lily McDermott & Chase Sutherland
====== Hello Kumamoto,
We hope everyone had a great Monday. We have some additional updates to share:
●Coronavirus policy-related announcements by PM During the speech on Friday afternoon in which the Prime Minister officially announced his intention to resign, as well as his address to the COVID-19 Response Headquarters the same day, he made several new announcements relating to the government’s COVID-19 strategy. Here are some of them:
① A third wave of coronavirus cases is possible this autumn, in addition to other seasonal infectious diseases which cause fever, such as influenza. As a result, it is necessary to dramatically increase daily testing capacity and to be able to test for both COVID-19 and influenza at the same time. The government is hoping to increase coronavirus testing capacity to be able to conduct 200,000 tests per day, so that COVID-19 tests can be performed alongside tests for influenza.
(For comparison, currently, the highest capacity for coronavirus testing is just over 60,000 tests per day. More details: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/covid-19/kokunainohasseijoukyou.html)
More details: https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/98_abe/statement/2020/0828kaiken.html
② Provided a safe vaccine is developed in time, the Japanese government intends to secure contracts to purchase enough vaccine to distribute to all citizens by the first half of next year.
More details: https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/98_abe/actions/202008/28corona.html
Abe also made an announcement on the new system by which foreigners with status of residence in Japan may leave and re-enter the country, which has been making the rounds in several news articles today. Here is more information on that…
●Procedure for re-entry for foreigners with status of residence in Japan (begins 1st September) All foreign nationals with a valid status of residence in Japan, who are currently residing in Japan, will be eligible to leave and re-enter Japan from tomorrow (1 September 2020).
The procedure is somewhat complicated, and involves sending an application package by e-mail to immigration officials prior to departure from Japan, then submitting proof that your application was received at the airport when you exit Japan. Before returning, you will need to obtain proof of a negative test result for COVID-19 72-hours prior to returning to Japan. Please check the following documents from the Ministry of Justice’s website.
See an explanation of the full procedure on the Ministry of Justice’s Website here: http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001327497.pdf (English), http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001327502.pdf (Japanese) Flow chart for the whole procedure: http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001327486.pdf (Japanese only)
●Cases in Kumamoto In our last update we mentioned some bars in which cases were confirmed in patrons/staff. The names of two additional establishments were announced to the public yesterday. Here they are:
（1）FOOD BAR Settle - Between August 16 and 18 （2）Connection - Between August 13 and 18 （3）SPOONY - Between August 15 and 18 （4）Marble - Between August 14 and 18 （5）駄菓子バー ねこの巣（Dagashi-Bar Nekonosu） - Between August 22 and 26 （6）BILL BOARD - Between August 18 and 24
If you have visited any of the above establishments during the dates listed please contact the Kumamoto City Returnees/ Virus Contact Center.
Here are the cases announced since our last update (four days worth of cases) by the municipality:
Kumamoto City - 24 Takamori Town - 1 Masahiki Town - 1 Uto City - 1
You can see the full list in English here: http://www.kuma-koku.jp/support-center/page156.html
