Joe Tomei here with a Kumamoto Coronavirus Update from the JET program Prefectural Advisors, Lily McDermott & Chase Sutherland. The last paragraph may be of interest to people who are hoping to travel in August. As always, thank you!.

Hi Kumamoto,

Yesterday, the Prefectural Government announced the end of the “Period of Strengthened Actions for the Protection of Our Health Care System” (医療を守る行動強化期間, iryō wo mamoru kōdō kyōka kikan). This comes three days earlier than expected, as it was originally scheduled to last until the end of the month.

Please read on for more information about the most recent measures/requests from the prefecture and some more updates.

End of “Strengthened Actions for the Protection of Our Health Care System” The special designation, which replaced the Quasi-Emergency measures, was ended three days early, on 27 June. Kumamoto Prefecture’s independent Risk Level remains set at Level 5, the highest level.

The public health measures and requests are now as follows:

① Basic Infection Prevention Measures Continue the thorough implementation of measures to prevent the spread of infection when leaving the home such as mask wearing (even in the absence of symptoms), physical distancing, regular hand washing and hand sanitizing, and taking time off work when you have a fever, and immediately contacting a medical clinic or the Kumamoto Prefecture Consultation Center for COVID-19. Continued co-operation with the implementation of the “New Lifestyle” measures such as hand-washing and bathing immediately after returning home and installing the COCOA app is also requested.

② Travel Avoid all unnecessary and non-urgent movement to and from prefectures for which there is currently a State of Emergency or if Quasi-Emergency Measures are in place. (Relaxed from all prefectures. The prefectures to which this request now include Okinawa, which remains under a full-fledged State of Emergency, and Hokkaido, Chiba, Saitama, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Aichi, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Fukuoka, to which Quasi-Emergency measures now apply until 11 July.)

③ Eating out Do not visit establishments which are not implementing measures to prevent the spread of infection. As much as possible, eat only with others who you usually already spend time with. Eat with as few people as possible, and follow the “4 steps” for avoiding risks when eating meals (https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/30/93983.html)

(You can see all current requests on the prefectural website here: https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/30/99410.html)

Establishment of a Kumamoto Vaccination Center (August) and Vaccine Passports (in July) Vaccine distribution is underway. Kumamoto Prefecture announced that it is hoping that all residents who wish to be vaccinated should be able to complete all vaccinations by the end of November of this year. As we mentioned previously, each municipality is responsible for running their own vaccine distribution programme, so please ask your tantosha about the rollout schedules and reservation method.

Kumamoto Prefecture will also open a large-scale vaccination center in August, operating from 6pm to 9pm on weekdays and 3pm-9pm on weekends. In addition, workplace vaccinations are also underway at some companies and schools. https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASP6G6SFBP6GTLVB004.html

Currently, documentation received by those who receive the vaccine is in Japanese only, but the national government is planning to have municipalities issue bilingual English-Japanese documentation (aka “Vaccine Passports”) that can be used overseas to verify vaccination status. This documentation is expected to be available starting from mid-to late- July (for more information about the planned certificates see: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/10906000/000797973.pdf, Japanese only)