Children's shelters are struggling to find facilities to quarantine and care for residents suspected of being infected with the novel coronavirus.
In the Tokyo metropolitan area, overcrowding is prevalent at the temporary shelters of child guidance centers, which look after children who have been abused, and quarantine facilities have not been secured.
In some cases, shelter staff have been prevented from visiting children's guardians due to infection risks.
Two teenagers at a temporary shelter in Chiba Prefecture developed fevers in April. The shelter consulted a public health center and it was decided that neither of them would be tested, but as a precaution the boys were quarantined in a room that is usually used for meetings with children and parents, as the already overcrowded facility had nowhere else to accommodate them, according to the shelter.
In April, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry asked child consultation centers nationwide to secure space at temporary shelters in which children who are displaying coronavirus symptoms can be quarantined.
There are six child consultation centers under the jurisdiction of the Chiba prefectural government and their temporary shelters have an official total capacity of 115 but are currently accommodating 166 children as of June 1.
"Reducing the risk of infections spreading at child consultation centers is currently difficult," a prefectural official said.
Of the 139 temporary shelters across the country, 30 were overcrowded as of Dec. 1, 2019, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey. In the Tokyo Metropolitan area, 22 out of 30 shelters were overcapacity.
"We're struggling because we can't force parents to let us visit them if they cite the coronavirus as a reason," an official at the Ibaraki prefectural central child consultation center in Mito said.
Since April, there have been several cases of parents suspected of abuse who, citing infection risks, have not allowed child guidance center officials to visit or meet with them, according to the center.
When staff are unable to meet with children, they have been speaking to parents and children on the telephone. Saff will forcibly enter a child's home in an emergency if injuries are suspected. However, maintaining ongoing supervision also requires paying careful attention to relationships with parents.
Meanwhile, mobile computing devices have been utilized by a prefectural government to address the concerns of parents about infection risks.
The Shizuoka prefectural government will distribute two tablet devices to each child consultation center in the prefecture.
The centers will give the devices to parents so that they can remotely communicate with them and confirm the situation of children in their homes.
The prefecture will also provide centers with protective gear that can be worn during on-site investigations.
"While these measures will not resolve all of the concerns, we would like to conduct investigations while giving utmost consideration to ensuring the safety of the children," a prefectural government official said.
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