As Japan braces for omicron, authorities prepare to quarantine close contacts

Dec 23, 2021 | News On Japan

Dec 23, 2021 (Japan Times) - As Japan starts to cast a wider net to prevent spread of the omicron COVID-19 variant, central and local governments are scrambling to ensure there are enough quarantine facilities for those who have come in close contact with people confirmed as infected with the highly transmissible virus.

On Tuesday, the government instructed all omicron close contacts to be quarantined at a facility monitored by central or local government officials for 14 days. Until now, close contacts had been allowed to quarantine in their homes.

“The health ministry notified prefectural governments today to start making preparations early on to make sure they can handle a rapid rise in infections,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno on Wednesday. “With this, we hope to have the necessary system in place.”

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday that Japan will continue to ban foreign visitors from entering the country “for the time being.” The policy — in place since late last month — was set to end on Dec. 31 but will now extend into the new year. Japan will also have all COVID-19 cases tested to confirm whether they involve the omicron variant, he said.

“We will reinforce measures to contain the infection,” Kishida told the news conference.

Despite the gradual rise in omicron cases being detected in Japan, Kishida stopped short of asking people to refrain from nonessential outings.

“Some experts overseas are urging people to refrain from going out if they have symptoms similar to a cold to prevent the spread of the omicron. In Japan, we are not seeing community infection, but please be sure to take precautions,” he said.

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