The ruling parties are considering removing imprisonment from penalties that could be imposed on coronavirus patients who refuse to be hospitalized, as they amend a bill to revise the Infectious Diseases Law, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The government submitted bills to the current Diet session to revise the Infectious Diseases Law and other relevant laws to strengthen measures against the novel coronavirus.
The ruling bloc is presenting the amendments on Tuesday and Wednesday at meetings when the leading members of the ruling and opposition parties in the House of Representatives Cabinet Committee and the Health, Welfare and Labor Committee discuss the matter, a senior official of the Liberal Democratic Party said Tuesday morning.
The bill to revise the Infectious Diseases Law states that if an infected person refuses to be hospitalized or leaves without permission after being hospitalized, the person will face a criminal penalty of "a prison term of up to 1 year or a fine of up to 1 million yen." These were set in line with the Quarantine Law's penalties imposed on people who escape from quarantine or required detention.
However, the opposition parties have been against the penalties, with Yukio Edano, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, saying: "We can never accept imprisonment. That is going way too far."
The ruling bloc now plans to remove the provision for imprisonment and lower the amount of fines to "up to 500,000 yen."
The bill to revise the special measures law allows governors to implement measures to prevent the spread of infection even before a state of emergency is declared. The opposition parties have demanded that a prior notice of such a move be given to the Diet. In response, the ruling parties intend to include it in a supplementary resolution.
The ruling bloc is also considering reducing the amount of "an administrative fine of up to 500,000 yen" on operators who do not comply with business suspension orders or other orders during a state of emergency.
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