Japan could put end to indoor mask-wearing as government mulls downgrading Covid-19’s status

Name: Japan fully reopens to tourists after dropping Covid test, easing visa requirements
Uploaded: 2023-01-14T13:38:11.000Z
Duration: 1 min 14 s
Description: Japan fully reopens to tourists after dropping Covid test, easing visa requirements

The policy change has been floated as the government discusses downgrading Covid-19’s legal status to the same level as seasonal influenza

The change may come as early as this spring in tandem with the downgrading of the classification, according to government sources

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Sales manager Masaki Nagayama works at his store, a clothes shop featuring Japanese firefighter organisation of the Edo era.The Japanese government is considering no longer asking the public to wear masks indoors in principle unless they have symptoms. Photo: Reuters

Kyodo

Published: 9:38pm, 14 Jan 2023Updated: 10:28pm, 14 Jan 2023

The Japanese government is considering no longer asking the public to wear masks indoors in principle unless they have symptoms, a government source said on Saturday, possibly changing the public’s daily anti-coronavirus practice drastically.

The policy change has been floated as the government discusses downgrading Covid-19’s legal status to the same level as seasonal influenza and as Sunday marks three years since Japan detected its first coronavirus infection.

In its anti-coronavirus measures revised last May, the government said that in principle, masks need not be worn outdoors as long as people are not conversing. But it said people were still advised to wear masks when indoors, except in cases where social distancing of two metres or more is secured and where there is virtually no conversation.

A man counts cash at a calender shop in Tokyo on January 5, 2023. People were still advised to wear masks when indoors, except in cases where social distancing of two metres or more is secured and where there is virtually no conversation. Photo: AFP

According to the source, the government is considering to relax rules on indoor face coverings as it believes that when Covid-19 is downgraded to a Class 5 disease under infectious disease legislation from the current Class 2, anti-infection measures should also be on par with those taken for Class 5 pathogens, such as the seasonal influenza.

Class 2 diseases are subject to extensive measures, including limiting movements by infected individuals and their close contacts.

The policy change on mask-wearing rules may come as early as this spring in tandem with the downgrading of the classification, the source said.

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Japan fully reopens to tourists after dropping Covid test, easing visa requirements

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decides on mask wearing by taking into factors such as the number of hospitalised patients.