Joe Tomei with an update from JET Program Prefectural Advisors Lily McDermott & Chase Sutherland that marks one year since the first one went out. As always, I thank them for sharing this newsletter with us.

Hi Kumamoto,

Today will be the last day of Kumamoto’s Independent State of Emergency, four days ahead of the original end date. Have a great Wednesday :)

Kumamoto’s Independent State of Emergency to be lifted tomorrow (18 February) As you know, Kumamoto’s Independent State of Emergency was declared by the prefectural government just over a month ago, on 14 January. The prefecture believes that it has been effective at reducing the number of cases, with daily numbers of new cases dropping since the end of January.

In order to ensure the stability of the health care system, the state of emergency was extended on 8 February. Since then, the situation has continued to improve, including the hospital bed usage rate, and on Monday earlier this week, the prefectural government announced that it would end the State of Emergency, with the final day with the state of emergency in effect being today (17 February).

In the one-week period from 9 February to 15 February, 31 cases were confirmed in Kumamoto Prefecture. This works out to 1.8 positive cases/100,000 population for this period. https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/30/84592.html

Requests to the public from 18 February onward In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 after the state of emergency is lifted, the Prefecture is asking for co-operation with the following from 18 February:

For Operators of Food and Drink Establishments:

  • Make use of the checklists provided by the prefecture, implementing the suggested measures described in them, and place a sticker in an area visible to the public. (Governmental and industry organisations/business associations will coordinate with businesses and conduct training/provide advice on the implementation of measures to prevent the spread of infection.)
  • Businesses should make use of opportunities provided by municipal governments to undertake PCR tests aimed at operators of food and drink establishments.

For other business operators;

  • Take measures to prevent the spread of infection within the workplace.
  • Put in place a system in which employees must take time off from work even if they have mild symptoms such as a fever.
  • Promote teleworking/time-lag commuting.

For long-term care facilities:

  • Implement measures to prevent the spread of infection using materials such as the Prefecture’s Online Training materials.
  • Put in place a system in which employees must take time off from work even if they have mild symptoms such as a fever.
  • If any employee or resident has symptoms, put in place a system in which they can be tested immediately, as well as make use of opportunities for mass-testing in order to uncover cases of infection as early as possible.

To all residents of the prefecture:

  • Avoid travel to places outside of the prefecture where the virus is spreading. (*This is defined as, avoiding travel to areas where the rate of infection per 100,000 population in the preceding one-week period is 15 people or higher, or there is a state of emergency declared in that prefecture. Currently the only prefecture with higher than 15 cases per 100,000/week is Tokyo–however, a State of Emergency is still in place in Saitama, Chiba, Fukuoka, Kanagawa, Osaka, Hyogo, Aichi and Kyoto Prefectures. https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/30/85714.html)
  • When making outings, thoroughly implement measures to prevent the spread of infection.
  • If you have any mild symptoms at all such as a fever, stay home from work and seek medical examination immediately.* (*If you have a fever, please first call the office/clinic that you usually go to ahead of time and make an appointment. If you are uncertain about which medical institution to go to, please call the “Fever Hotline” (TEL:0570-096-567) https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/30/59582.html)

When visiting a restaurants/dining in groups:

Construction of a new hospital in Tamana completed Construction on Kumamoto Kenhoku Hospital, one of the largest principal hospitals in Kumamoto, located in Tamana City, was completed on 14 February, and is expected to open in March. The hospital will have 56 beds designated for COVID-19 patients. https://kumanichi.com/news/id114250

First vaccines in Japan given to medical workers Today, the first doses of the vaccine for COVID-19 developed by Pfizer were given to health care workers across the country. Approximately 40,000 health care workers are expected to receive the vaccine in this initial distribution.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210217/k10012871711000.html

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has decided to implement a wide-scale ongoing follow-up study beginning in April, in order to determine the prevalence of side-effects. The Ministry aims to elicit responses from about 1 million recipients of the Pfizer vaccine via social media. If the Moderna and Astrazeneca vaccines are also approved, the government is expected to conduct the same survey on recipients of those vaccines, bringing the total survey sample to over 3 million. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210216/k10012869241000.html

New law passed stiffening penalties for businesses and individuals The Diet approved amendments to the Act on Special Measures against Novel Influenza earlier this month, and went into effect on 13 February.

It gives the government various new powers to impose fines or imprisonment for violations of measures taken in the name of public health. For instance, if another state of emergency is declared, it gives the government the ability to levy fines against businesses that ignore government orders to shorten their hours or close to prevent the spread of infection, or individuals who refuse hospitalization after testing positive.

In addition, if a person who tests positive after entering Japan refuses to self-isolate, they may be criminally charged and subject to a fine of up to 1 million yen or imprisonment up to 1 year. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210203/k10012847221000.html