The spread of coronavirus infections has slowed for the time being. By the end of this month, it is hoped that the declaration of a state of emergency will be lifted nationwide.
The central government decided to lift the declaration for Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures. Infection levels in the three prefectures have recently been kept low. It is an appropriate decision in line with one of the key criteria for the lifting -- that the number of new infections in a week should be about or lower than 0.5 per 100,000 people.
Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture and Hokkaido did not meet that standard. It is necessary to make a judgment on the infection status in the Tokyo metropolitan area as a whole because heavy flows of people are a characteristic of the area. For that reason, Chiba and Saitama have also been included in the five prefectures that are still under a state of emergency.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his view that if the number of infected people continues to decline, the government will be able to entirely lift the declaration as early as next week.
Since the government declared a state of emergency in April, society as a whole has been making efforts to prevent infections. There is no denying that positive results of these efforts have become visible.
However, if social activities are expanded all at once following the lifting, the number of people infected with the virus will inevitably increase again. It is important to seek a gradual resumption of activities.
In response to the lifting of the declaration, the Osaka prefectural government will allow theme parks and bowling alleys to restart their operations.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said, "[Osaka Prefecture] will gradually restore social and economic activities while taking measures against the infectious disease." It is important to prevent the occurrence of infection clusters, which can lead to mass infections, based on the guidelines of industry groups.
As the number of newly hospitalized patients decreased, beds are being freed up at medical institutions. There are also vacancies at accommodations for people with mild symptoms. For the present, the threat of a worst-case crisis, in which it is impossible to treat serious cases, seems to have receded.
Due to fear of in-hospital infections, the number of people who receive treatment at medical institutions has decreased and nonurgent operations and other services have been postponed. Medical institutions will surely return their workplaces to normal medical examination systems while watching the situation.
At the same time, it is important to keep preparing for second and third waves of infections. If the number of cases increases again, it will be essential for the medical system to switch back to coronavirus crisis mode. It is necessary for medical institutions and local governments to establish plans to do so in advance.
It is also necessary for medical institutions to steadily renovate facilities to prevent in-hospital infections. The central government should consider financial assistance for these moves.
There are still many unclear points about coronavirus infections. It is unavoidable that the virus will continue to spread undetected. Since many foreign countries have not yet been able to contain the spread of the virus, it is possible that the virus will enter Japan from abroad again.
It is important to detect signs of a resurgence as soon as possible. The central government should strengthen its surveillance system, including the expansion of polymerase chain reaction testing.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on May 22, 2020.
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