An expert meeting of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare was held to advise on measures against the new coronavirus, and it was analyzed that although the number of new infections continues to be high nationwide, it is steadily decreasing.

On the other hand, he urged that infection control measures continue, saying that there is a possibility that the number will turn to an increase due to the impact of the reopening of schools.

The expert meeting analyzed that although the current infection level continues to be higher nationwide than the peak of the sixth wave in February this year, the number of infected people is steadily decreasing. .



Based on short-term forecasts for large cities, it is possible that many regions will continue to decline, while the decline in the number of infected people appears to be slowing, especially in northern Japan. He pointed out that there is a possibility that it will turn to an increase due to such effects.



As the number of patients undergoing medical treatment decreases, the medical system, including general medical care, continues to be burdened, but the situation is improving.



In addition, the number of severe cases has recently decreased, and although the number of deaths has stopped increasing and remains at a high level, it is said that the situation continues to exceed the peak period so far.



Based on this, the expert meeting has decided that people with symptoms should be tested by themselves, and if they test positive, they should be able to undergo health observations in preparation for worsening symptoms, and to develop temporary medical facilities. He points out that it is necessary to avoid straining the medical system.



Furthermore, regarding the vaccine for the Omicron strain, it is necessary to prepare for the start of vaccination in the middle of next month, and to promote the third and fourth vaccinations.



In addition, thorough basic infection control measures such as proper wearing of non-woven fabric masks, disinfection, thorough ventilation, and refraining from going out when you have symptoms such as sore throat or cough, and avoiding contact opportunities with risk of infection as much as possible. called for reduction.

The number of new infections in a week is 0.69 times the previous week nationwide

According to the materials presented at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's expert meeting, the number of new infections in the week until the 6th continued to decline nationwide, 0.69 times compared to the previous week.



Among the three prefectures in the Tokyo metropolitan area,


▼ Tokyo is 0.66 times,


▼ Kanagawa Prefecture is 0.71 times,


▼ Saitama Prefecture is 0.73 times, and


▼ Chiba Prefecture is 0.75 times.



In Kansai,


▼Osaka Prefecture decreased to 0.66 times,


▼Hyogo Prefecture decreased to 0.68 times,


▼Kyoto Prefecture decreased to 0.72 times, ▼



Aichi


Prefecture increased to 0.71 times,


▼Gifu Prefecture


decreased to 0.73 times, and ▼Mie Prefecture increased to 0.70 times. Following this, all prefectures decreased from the previous week.



The number of infected people per 100,000 population in the most recent week


is 1035.85 in Kagoshima Prefecture, the only prefecture with over 1,000 people,


followed


by 997.42 in Tokushima, 972.63 in


Miyazaki, and 966.31 in


Nagasaki. ▼ In


addition to 899.02 people in Kochi prefecture

, ▼


757.34 people in Osaka Prefecture, ▼ 578.53 people in


Tokyo, ▼ 681.26 people


nationwide.

Volunteer experts make proposals for shortening the period of medical treatment, etc.

At the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's expert meeting held on the 7th, volunteer experts such as Chairman Takaji Wakita presented a proposal summarizing their opinions on shortening the period of medical treatment.



Among them, regarding shortening the patient's medical treatment period from the current 10 days to 7 days,


▽The risk of infection remains until the 10th day after symptoms appear, but the 7 days after the onset is the most infectious. In

addition to knowing,


▽The need to maintain medical and social functions is also a reason for the need to shorten.



However,


▽ If symptoms continue, wait for 10 days,


▽ Even if the treatment period is shortened, the risk of infection remains until the 10th day, so if you go out, take infection control measures


▽ Medical workers If you are in contact with people at high risk of becoming seriously ill, such as elderly people and staff at nursing homes, you are required to confirm a negative test before returning to work.



It also states that patients who need hospitalization must wait 10 days after the onset of symptoms before moving to a facility for the elderly or releasing isolation in a medical institution.



In addition, asymptomatic infected people can be released from medical treatment if the antigen test kit is confirmed to be negative on the fifth day after the first positive test is confirmed.



On the other hand, in the proposal, he also wrote that some experts said that they could not agree with this idea because it was not examined based on risk assessment.

Chairman Wakita ``It's not a situation where you can feel completely at ease.''

At a press conference held after the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's expert meeting, Takaji Wakita, chairman of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, commented on the current infection situation in Japan, saying, "The number of infected people continues to decline nationwide, and there is a possibility that it will continue. However, in some areas, the rate of decline has slowed, and the situation is still not completely reassuring.The impact of the reopening of schools in late August or early September will be felt in the future. I think it's important to keep a close eye on whether it will come or not."



Furthermore, ``From now on, there is a high possibility that new mutant strains will flow in with almost no time lag between overseas and Japan. There was an argument that if measures were not taken in anticipation of the spread of the above infection, a medical crisis would inevitably occur.We will continue to communicate the outlook for the epidemic situation and risk assessment through the advisory board." .



In addition, while there were multiple opinions regarding the shortening of the period of medical treatment at home, etc., ``It may be generally acceptable, there were also opinions that the risks were not properly reflected in the countermeasures. In order to reduce this, there is an opinion that it is necessary to make it easy to understand what actions to take, and medical institutions and facilities for the elderly with many elderly people should firmly adhere to the conventional 10 days. There was also an opinion that," he said, even among experts.



"If the medical treatment period is shortened from the current 10 days, there will still be a certain amount of risk. In that situation, if you act freely, there is a risk of spreading the infection, and there will be a tendency for the rate of decrease in infection to slow down. There is a possibility.It is necessary to recognize such risks and take countermeasures."