TOKYO Kyodo Japan began Monday to simplify its coronavirus reporting system by targeting elderly and high-risk people in a bid to reduce the administrative burden on hospitals and local health centers.
Since the Omicron strain drove numbers sharply higher and stretched the medical system thin, the new system will not require medical facilities to report details such as names and addresses of younger people with milder symptoms.
The government will continue to oblige health facilities to report the number of people who test positive for the disease each day by age group in an effort to monitor the spread of COVID - 19, in an effort to keep pace with the spread of the disease.
The measure, which places emphasis on the provision of appropriate medical care to elderly and others at risk of developing severe symptoms, shows the government's policy shift as it transitions the nation toward living with the coronaviruses.
Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said that some municipalities that introduced the system prior to Monday have expressed concerns about not being able to contact those not included in the reporting, saying it prevents them from responding quickly to patients when their symptoms become serious.
Kato said at a press conference on Monday that they would like to keep in touch with local governments and respond with improvements when issues come up.
People aged 65 or older, those who need hospitalization, pregnant women and high-risk patients who may need medicine or a supply of oxygen are also subject to the new reporting system.
The reporting system has already been adopted by nine prefectures as an emergency measure. It was expanded to cover the entire country after health follow-up centers were set up by prefectural governments for younger COVID patients with mild symptoms.
Infected people are able to request a stay at designated accommodation facilities or to receive food deliveries regardless of whether a positive case is reported to authorities. The government will ask them to refrain from going out and for close contacts to isolate for a period of time.
The move follows calls from some medical and other experts to downgrade the classification of the coronaviruses to a similar level to seasonal flu and take a more flexible approach in the fight to stem the spread of the virus while balancing socioeconomic activities.
On Sunday, Japan posted 46,788 new coronaviruses cases, down approximately 17,000 compared to a week ago, according to local government reporting.