The government on Wednesday unveiled a draft of revised state of emergency guidelines that place more emphasis on the burden on medical services.
The revised guidelines, which are being deliberated by the government's novel coronavirus countermeasures panel headed by Shigeru Omi, would allow the government to lift a state of emergency if the daily tally of new cases is on a downward trend, among other criteria.
The state of emergency currently in place in Tokyo and 20 other prefectures is scheduled to end on Sunday. The government is planning to refer to the new criteria during discussions on whether to end or extend the declaration.
Decisions on issuing or ending a state of emergency have been based on five criteria: pressure on medical services; the number of patients receiving medical treatment; PCR test positivity rates; the number of new infections; and the percentage of patients with unknown infection routes.
The spread of the highly contagious delta variant led to a surge in infections over the summer even though COVID-19 vaccination rates have been increasing, mainly among the elderly population. The proportion of patients with mild or moderate symptoms has surged, and many people have been told to recuperate at home or made to wait for hospital beds.
The government has been reviewing its pandemic criteria as it claims that the existing guidelines are not in line with the current infection situation.
Under the guidelines being considered, the government will consider such factors as the number of people with severe or moderate symptoms and the number of people recuperating at home.
The number of cases in which there have been problems transporting emergency patients will also be considered, taking into account the pressure on medical services.
"Experts have suggested the status of medical services should be the focus when making decisions," said Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akira Nishimura at a meeting of the panel on Sunday. "We came to the conclusion that decisions should be made while taking into account criteria such as the number of patients recuperating at home or awaiting hospitalization," Nishimura said.
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