Govt. To Decide When To Introduce Nationwide Revision Of Coronavirus Case Count
Japan's health minister says he will listen to the opinions of prefectural governors before he decides to introduce nationwide a revised system for reporting coronavirus cases.
Medical institutions in Japan are currently required to register all infected people that they have identified in a state-run system.
The names, dates of birth and other details about those people must be entered into the system, and that puts an extra burden on healthcare workers.
The Japanese government said last week that it will let prefectures decide whether to continue to include reports about all the cases or to limit the reports to specific groups, such as the elderly and others who are at risk of becoming seriously ill.
But, as of the deadline on Monday, only four prefectures out of the 47 had applied to limit the types of cases they register in the system.
On Tuesday, health minister Kato Katsunobu told reporters that circumstances vary with each prefecture, and that some are still thinking about whether they should apply.
He said the four prefectures that applied by the deadline -- Miyagi, Ibaraki, Tottori and Saga -- will be allowed to revise their reporting procedures starting on Friday.
Kato said prefectural governors have various views on the matter, so he will decide on the timing of the nationwide revisions based on what they have to say.