Due to a series of new coronavirus clusters in facilities for the elderly, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will intensively inspect staff of 10 prefectures that have declared a state of emergency after the 8th by next month. I notified you.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, there were a total of 261 cases nationwide where a cluster was identified or infections of two or more people were confirmed during the week leading up to the 1st of this month.
Of these, 95 cases, which is more than one-third, have been confirmed at facilities for the elderly, and it is conspicuous that the infection spreads from facility staff to residents.
For this reason, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has decided to intensively carry out PCR inspections of staff in 10 prefectures excluding Tochigi prefecture, which will be canceled in 7 days, out of 11 prefectures that have declared a state of emergency on the 7th. Notified by.
After confirming the facility's wishes, the notification stipulates the period of inspection and whether residents should be included in the inspection, and requests that it be submitted to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare by the 12th of this month.
The government will bear all the costs of the inspection, and we also request that the inspection be completed by the end of next month and the implementation status will be reported.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare says, "By detecting infections at facilities for the elderly at an early stage, we would like to suppress the outbreak of seriously ill people as much as possible."