Corona Concerns about slowing down the rate of infection in urban areas Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare expert meeting

An expert meeting of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare was held to give advice on measures against the new coronavirus, and although the number of infected people continues to decrease nationwide, infectivity is feared to slow down, especially in urban areas. While there is a risk of a mutant virus that is said to be strong, it is necessary to take thorough measures to continue the decrease.

At the meeting held on the 18th, an analysis was conducted focusing on the situation of the 10 prefectures subject to the state of emergency, and after saying that "the number of newly infected people continues to decrease", inpatients and We also evaluate that the number of people who are seriously ill and who die is continuing to decline.

On the other hand, as the proportion of people aged 60 and over is increasing in the number of infected people, it will take time to reduce the number of seriously ill people, and there are areas where the movement of people at night is increasing again. He points out that the decline in infected people may be delayed, especially in urban areas, and the rate of decline may be slowing down.

On top of this, the expert meeting said that it is necessary to continue the decreasing trend, and that it is necessary to take thorough measures to prevent the re-spread of the infection and reduce the burden on medical institutions for future vaccination. ..

And, as actions such as avoiding dinner with a large number of people are the key to prevent re-expansion, we cooperated in refraining from welcome and farewell parties, thank-you parties, graduation trips and banquets accompanying cherry blossom viewing toward the end of the year. It is necessary to send an effective message so that it can be received.

In addition, expert meetings need to strengthen the testing system to find and contain mutant viruses that are considered to be highly infectious and mutant viruses that are thought to be easier to escape from antibody attacks. I point out.

Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Tamura "Responding while being aware of the next wave"

At the beginning of the meeting, Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Tamura said, "We must sufficiently suppress newly infected people and respond while being aware of the next wave. In 10 prefectures, people engaged in clusters at facilities for the elderly. in March the inspection will be carried out in the prospect of to. currently, the maximum 22,000 facility is received reports with the target, to focus on support, I want to ask each prefecture ".

In addition, regarding the new coronavirus vaccine, "We are supposed to inoculate elderly people from April, so we have to take all possible measures. There is also a problem with the supply amount, so we are worried that the information will not be sufficiently distributed. I am calling, but I would like to take measures so that I can inoculate with confidence. "

Chair Wakita "Reduce to a level that will not re-expand"

At a press conference, Chairman Takaji Wakita of the expert meeting pointed out that "the current situation is that the rate of decrease in the number of infected people is slowing down. We will reduce the number of seriously ill and dead people and vaccination. It is necessary to reduce the burden on the medical institution responsible for this as much as possible. In addition, while there is a risk that the infection of mutant strains will increase, it is also required to improve the infection situation to a level where measures such as investigations to follow the infection route can be taken firmly. It is important to reduce the number of infected people to a level where the infection does not spread again. "

Governor Ohno of Saitama Prefecture "Not in a state of requesting cancellation of declaration"

Saitama Prefecture held a meeting of the countermeasures headquarters for the new coronavirus, and Governor Ohno said, "If you look at the infection status of the mutant virus, we have not reached the state of requesting the government to cancel the state of emergency as soon as possible." We continued to call for cooperation in refraining from going out unnecessarily.

The Saitama Prefecture Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting was held on the 18th, and although the number of infected people continues to decrease in the prefecture, the occupancy rate of beds remains high, and it has changed as of the 16th. It was reported that 37 people were confirmed to be infected with the virus, which is the highest number in the whole country.

Then, it was decided that the examinations would be intensively conducted from this week to the end of March, targeting more than 250,000 people including staff of medical institutions and facilities for the elderly in the prefecture and new inpatients.

After the meeting, Governor Ohno said, "Although the number of infected people is decreasing, we are in a state of requesting the government to cancel the state of emergency as soon as possible, considering the infection status of the mutant virus and the situation where the bed occupancy rate remains high. He said, "We haven't reached it yet," and called on the citizens of the prefecture to continue refraining from going out unnecessarily.

Governor Yoshimura of Osaka Prefecture "Request for cancellation in 3 prefectures together"

Osaka Prefecture has a policy of deciding whether to request the government to cancel the state of emergency at the countermeasures headquarters meeting held on the 19th.

Governor Yoshimura expressed his intention to wait for the decisions of Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures before requesting cancellation in the three prefectures.

Regarding the state of emergency until the 7th of next month, Osaka Prefecture will hold a meeting of the countermeasures headquarters on the 19th, considering that the number of new positives is decreasing, and decide whether to request the government to cancel it. It is a policy.

Regarding this, Governor Yoshimura said at a press conference on the 18th, "Given the current number of new positives, I think that the usage rate of severe, moderate and mild beds will decrease for a while. If it is effective and the bed usage rate is visible to some extent, it is also necessary to make a decision to cancel it. I would like to decide the direction at the meeting on the 19th. "

On top of that, Governor Yoshimura said, "Since Keihanshin has decided to respond to the state of emergency as a whole, it is a good idea to make a request for cancellation in cooperation with the three prefectures. It is now possible to request only Osaka alone. I don't think about it at the stage, "he said. When requesting the cancellation from the government, he said that he would like to wait for the decisions of Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures before doing so in the three prefectures.

Governor Omura of Aichi Prefecture "Determine whether it can be canceled at the beginning of the week"

Regarding the state of emergency, Governor Omura of Aichi Prefecture expressed his intention to closely monitor the number of inpatients by this weekend and decide whether or not it can be canceled at the beginning of the week.

According to Aichi Prefecture, the number of patients infected with the new coronavirus and admitted to medical institutions in the prefecture is 429 as of the night of the 17th.

Governor Omura of Aichi Prefecture said at a press conference on the 18th, "The number of infected people and inpatients is steadily decreasing, but I want to further calm the hospitalization situation. How much inpatients will decrease this weekend I would like to pay close attention to what I will do and make a decision at the beginning of the week. "