Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said on November 29 that Japan will consider reclassifying COVID 19 into a less severe infectious disease category, such as the one for seasonal flu.
Under the Infectious Disease Law, COVID-19 is currently classified as an infectious disease, putting it in category 2 or higher.
Diseases at this severe level include tuberculosis. Government authorities can impose strong measures on the public to prevent the spread of such diseases.
According to Kato, the government could lower COVID 19 status to Category 5, as well as lower COVID 19 status.
If that happens, government authorities would drop their requests to the public to refrain from going out. The restrictions on work and business operations will no longer apply.
Kato said during a news conference at a Cabinet meeting that we would like to proceed with discussions comprehensively and immediately, based on the latest evidence, while listening to the opinions of experts.
The Upper House is expected to pass a bill that will revise the Infectious Disease Law.
When the bill was passed by the Lower House, an additional clause was added to include wording asking the government to review the COVID category immediately.
On a Nov. 27 television program, Kato stated that such a review would happen.
He said that we will make a decision while considering the severity, infectivity and mutation of the novel coronaviruses.