Japan's Health Minister: People Don't Need To Wear Masks Outdoors
Japan's health minister Kato Katsunobu has reiterated that in principle, people don't need to wear face masks outdoors to protect against the coronavirus.
That is the Japanese government's current policy on outdoor mask-wearing. The government also says masking is unnecessary indoors if people are about 2 meters apart and there's little conversation.
Kato told reporters on Tuesday that the public has not sufficiently embraced the government's ideas on masking.
He added he has heard people worry about how others perceive them when they go without masks.
Kato said it's okay for people who want to keep their masks on to do so, but the government needs to make more efforts to let the public know that there are situations where masks are not needed.
Seko Hiroshige, the Secretary-General in the Upper House for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said on Tuesday that he thinks Japan needs to ease its extremely tough masking rules if it is going to take in more foreign visitors.