As the infection of the new mutated coronavirus spreads nationwide, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has decided to allow the scale of testing to be reduced in areas where the conventional virus has been replaced by the mutated virus in order to reduce the burden on local governments. I decided.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is requesting local governments to extract samples and perform screening tests on 40% of newly infected people with the new coronavirus in order to find people infected with the mutant virus at an early stage.
On the other hand, in areas where infection with the mutant virus is spreading, the work of the local health research institute, which is in charge of testing, is becoming tight, and experts point out that "the need for testing is low in areas where conventional viruses have been replaced." Is out.
For this reason, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has decided to allow the rate of testing to be reduced at the discretion of local governments in areas where infection with the mutant virus is widespread, and it was approved at an expert meeting held on the 6th.
The target is municipalities where the number of people infected with the new coronavirus per week is 15 or more per 100,000, and the mutant virus is detected in more than 80% of newly infected people.
Other local governments will continue to request that 40% of newly infected persons be screened, and strengthen the genetic analysis system centered on the National Institute of Infectious Diseases to monitor new mutant viruses. I'm going.