The National Institute of Infectious Diseases has changed its definition of what "close contact" means for people who have been in contact with patients infected with the new coronavirus.
In an attempt to strengthen measures against clusters of infections, the institute states that people can be regarded as having had close contact with a patient if they met between two days before their symptoms appeared and when they went into isolation; if there was less than one meter between them when they met; and if they met for more than 15 minutes without necessary protection such as face masks. In addition to these criteria, other factors such as their immediate environment will be considered when deciding who patients had close contact with.
The former definition was based on such conditions as "two-meter distance" and "after symptoms appeared." The institute revised the definition based on information including guidance from the World Health Organization.
In accordance with the new definition, each municipality will investigate whom patients had close contact with, going back to two days before they developed fever, cough or fatigue, and request them to refrain from going out for two weeks in order to prevent spreading the infection.
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