The National Governors' Association is calling on the central government to establish uniform standards on the release of personal information related to people who have died from the novel coronavirus, as local governments currently differ in how and what information is made public.
Citing the wishes of the bereaved families, some local governments have withheld information other than the fact of death, such as the age range and gender of the deceased. The Tokyo metropolitan government, which also withheld information in the past, has switched to releasing information without the consent of the bereaved families, in the interest of raising awareness of infection prevention.
Nagano Prefecture made its first announcement of the death of an infected person on Sept. 1.
Explaining why it was not disclosing the deceased person's age range, gender, place of residence, or whether they had a preexisting condition, a prefectural official in charge of health and welfare said at a press conference: "We made the decision at the strong request of the bereaved family and in the interest of protecting privacy."
However, on Sept. 8, in response to requests from the media, the official said the prefecture had obtained the consent of the bereaved family to disclose that the person was in their 80s and had a preexisting medical condition. The person's gender and other information remained undisclosed.
The official said, "We will continue to think about the protection of privacy and whether disclosure of information will lead to the prevention of infection."
The cities of Kofu and Yamagata also require the consent of the bereaved family for personal information to be disclosed.
In contrast, the Tokyo metropolitan government, which initially required the consent of the bereaved families, began in late May disclosing five kinds of personal information -- age range, gender, whether the person resided in Tokyo, date of diagnosis and date of death -- without the consent of the bereaved family.
"To accurately convey the status of the infection, we are disclosing information in a way that does not lead to the identification of individuals. Information such as the age range of the victims is important so that elderly people at high risk of death and those around them can act with caution," a Tokyo metropolitan official said.
Kumamoto and Kochi prefectures also release information on age range, gender, place of residence, whether there was a pre-existing condition and the circumstances leading up to death. Gifu Prefecture announces the age range and gender of the deceased, as well as the city, town or village of their residence.
A prefectural official said, "We can't take measures unless we disclose information about the type of people who died," he said. The consent of the bereaved family is not a prerequisite for disclosure in Kumamoto, Kochi and Gifu prefectures.
As local governments differ in how they handle the privacy of the deceased, the governors' association compiled a proposal on Sept. 26, calling on the national government to "establish a unified standard for the release of information on infected people."
A representative from Nagano Prefecture said: "Measures against infectious diseases are a challenge for the entire country. We can't just let each local government make its own decision."
However, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is reluctant to formulate a unified standard for the release of information regarding deaths, saying it is of little importance from the standpoint of preventing the spread of the virus.
Masatomo Suzuki, a professor of information law at Niigata University and an expert on the protection of personal information, said: "It's important to disclose necessary information that is limited enough to prevent identification of individuals, so people can learn from it. To protect lives, there must be no ambiguity in the standards, and the state should set the standards for public disclosure."
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