Notification of patients suspected of being infected with the new corona Indication of hospitalization only Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare

Notification of patients suspected of being infected with new corona Indication of hospitalization only Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare September 18, 22:38

A meeting of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare was held to consider revising the response to people infected with the new corona virus, and patients suspected of being infected due to fever etc. in order to reduce the burden on medical institutions and health centers in case of a simultaneous epidemic with influenza It was suggested that the notification should be limited to those who need to be hospitalized.

Since February, the government has designated the new coronavirus infection as a "designated infectious disease" and has been investigating hospitalization recommendations for infected people and infection routes for all, but medical institutions and health centers conducting investigations have been conducting investigations. The challenge is that the burden is heavy.

At the meeting held on the 18th, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare presented a proposal to review the response.

The plan is that during the influenza epidemic, many patients with fever will be indistinguishable from those with the new corona virus, so in order to reduce the burden on health centers and medical institutions, the city of patients suspected of being infected due to fever, etc. Notifications to prefectures are limited to those who need to be hospitalized.

In addition, the target of hospitalization recommendations is those who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill, such as the elderly aged 65 and over and those with chronic illnesses.

The proposal was generally accepted, but experts say that it should be flexible to some extent according to the epidemic situation in each region, and there are people who become seriously ill even if they are young, so the impression is that hospitalization is limited to the elderly. There was an opinion that it should not be strong.

The response policy is expected to be finalized by the end of this month based on this proposal, and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare hopes to start operation with the new policy early next month.