Власти Японии изучат приравнивание COVID к гриппу

The Japanese government is considering downgrading the CORONAVIRUS from class 2 to class 5 to similar to seasonal flu, which would remove the recommendation to wear masks indoors, the Tokyo Shimbun and Japan Times reported, citing sources.

The recommendation will remain for those who cannot maintain social distancing or who have symptoms of the coronavirus.

The covid-19 policy change could happen as early as spring, a Japan Times source said. Some members of parliament, including MPs from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, are calling for a revision of the rules.

As of January 14, 132,071 cases of COVID-19 were detected in Japan per day, 503 people died. In total, since the beginning of May 2020, coronavirus has been detected in more than 31.3 million people, more than 62.2 thousand people have died.

In autumn, the country lifted most of the restrictions on the entry of foreigners imposed due to the pandemic. However, since the end of December, the authorities have tightened measures for those who come from China: they must take a test when entering Japan.

CHINA eased its zero-tolerance policy on the coronavirus in early December, which led to an outbreak, with almost 250 million people infected with COVID-19 last month, BLOOMBERG reported. Authorities admitted this week that nearly 60,000 people have died from COVID-19 in a month.