Record 300 day-care centers in Japan shut due to pandemic

Kyodo -- Jan 25

A record 327 day-care centers have temporarily shut down in Japan as the coronavirus resurgence grips the country, the health ministry said Monday, causing a headache for working parents.

The number of such facilities suspending services as of last Thursday, excluding privately operated or locally licensed ones, increased fourfold in a week along with the spike in COVID-19 cases and well exceeded the previous high of 185 in September, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.