Traveling to Japan Without a Mask... "From May, COVID-19 Treated Like the Flu"

Kishida Decides at Today's Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting

The Japanese government announced on the 27th, according to Japanese media such as Kyodo News and Yomiuri Shimbun, that it will manage COVID-19 like seasonal influenza (flu) starting May 8.

At the COVID-19 task force meeting held that evening, the Japanese government will decide to lower the classification of COVID-19 under the Infectious Diseases Control Law from the current "Category 2 equivalent" to "Category 5," the same as seasonal influenza, effective May 8.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Currently, COVID-19 in Japan is managed as the second highest "Category 2 equivalent" among five categories under the Infectious Diseases Control Law, alongside Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The Japanese Infectious Diseases Control Law classifies infectious diseases into five categories based on their risk level, from 1 to 5.

Earlier, on the 20th, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed the policy to lower the classification of COVID-19 from "Category 2 equivalent" to "Category 5" this spring and instructed cabinet members to review the matter.

If the official decision is made at the COVID-19 task force meeting that day, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare plans to present detailed guidelines for the reclassification under the Infectious Diseases Control Law by early March.

If COVID-19 is treated like seasonal influenza, patients will bear the cost of treatment themselves, and measures under the Infectious Diseases Control Law such as hospitalization recommendations or requests for self-isolation for confirmed cases will no longer be possible.

Mask-wearing will be relaxed to encourage flexible responses, no longer requiring masks uniformly indoors, but requiring them in places such as elderly care facilities. Currently, mask-wearing is generally unnecessary outdoors, but is recommended indoors except in some cases.

On the 20th (local time), citizens wearing masks are commuting outside Tokyo Station in Japan. [Photo by Yonhap News]

For sports games or performances involving cheering, the current requirement to limit audience capacity to 50% will be lifted from that day, allowing 100% capacity.

Japan's daily COVID-19 cases peaked at 246,600 on the 6th during the "8th wave" (the eighth COVID-19 surge) and have since been declining.