From the 26th, a uniform nationwide operation will start on the 26th that will simplify the grasp of the total number of people infected with the new coronavirus and limit detailed reports to those who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill.
For those who are not subject to detailed reporting and have no symptoms or mild symptoms, experts point out that they should definitely report to the health follow-up center etc. so that they can receive support smoothly when they become severe. doing.
"Simplified" operation started
In order to reduce the burden on medical institutions that deal with the new corona, the government has started operations that can simplify reporting on infected people at the discretion of prefectures from the 2nd of this month.
Specifically, detailed reports will be limited to
people
aged 65 and over,
people who need hospitalization, and
people who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill, such as pregnant women.
only.
This operation has already been introduced in nine prefectures and will start nationwide from the 26th.
While the prefectural governments that introduced the system earlier said that it has lightened the burden on the frontline, it is necessary to establish a system that allows people with mild symptoms who do not request detailed reports from medical associations to receive medical care promptly if they become severe. It has been pointed out that there is
The government is requesting prefectures to create a system that can respond appropriately through health follow-up centers when the symptoms of people with mild symptoms suddenly change, and to ask people with mild symptoms to refrain from going out for a certain period of time as before. and its effectiveness is an issue.
Focusing on providing medical care to people at high risk of severe disease
Simplifying the grasp of all cases was introduced with the aim of reducing the burden on medical institutions and focusing on providing medical care to people at high risk of severe illness, such as the elderly, as the infection of the Omicron strain spreads.
Until now, medical institutions used a system called "HER-SYS" to report the names, date of onset, and contact information of all patients to public health centers. It will be limited to people.
"HER-SYS" has been modified so that even those who are not subject to detailed reporting can report the age and total number, and the total number of infected people will continue to be monitored.
In introducing the simplification, a system was put in place so that people who are not subject to detailed reporting can receive treatment at home with peace of mind, such as lifting the ban on Internet sales of antigen test kits, health follow-up centers established by prefectures, and vaccination against Omicron strains. In addition, we have strengthened our preparations for the future spread of infection.
Patients with no symptoms or those with mild symptoms can start treatment by registering
On top of that, for those who are not subject to detailed reporting and who have no symptoms or who have mild symptoms, if they are tested positive by themselves, they can register with the Health Follow-up Center and start treatment without visiting a medical institution. I made it possible.
In addition, if you wish, you can receive support such as accommodation and food delivery, and if your symptoms worsen while you are recuperating at home, the Health Follow-up Center will contact you and consult with you and connect you to a medical institution.
However, since public health centers will no longer be able to monitor their health as before, it will be necessary to publicize the contact information of the health follow-up center and request that people refrain from going out so that they can quickly refer patients to medical institutions when their symptoms worsen. How to call for infection control will be a future challenge.
In addition, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has said that it will be difficult to grasp clusters in the future because the scope of detailed reporting is limited, and each prefecture is requested to continue to take measures to prevent the spread of infection at facilities for the elderly.
"Those who are not eligible should definitely report" Kita Ward Public Health Center Director Hideo Maeda
Hideo Maeda, director of the public health center in Kita Ward, Tokyo, who is participating in the national expert meeting, commented on the merits of simplifying the grasp of all cases, saying, ``In the seventh wave, the number of infected people increased, and there were situations where people could not see medical institutions, so there were many elderly people. I think one of the benefits is that it has become easier for patients and people with underlying diseases to see a doctor."
Regarding changes in the burden on public health centers, he said, "The amount of simple work will be greatly reduced, but detailed information about people with mild symptoms will not be registered, so if support is required, complicated work such as checking detailed symptoms will occur. True. In that sense, it is difficult to say that the amount of work has been reduced."
On the other hand, by simplifying the grasp of all cases, by registering with the health follow-up center, those who are not subject to detailed reports can contact the health follow-up center and consult with them if their symptoms worsen while they are being treated at home. You can receive support, such as being connected to an institution.
For this reason, Director Maeda said, "In order to receive support smoothly, I would like you to make sure to notify the health follow-up center. It's important to keep it," he said.
In Tokyo, people under the age of 64 will be able to register online at the metropolitan positive person registration center. It is an appropriate response to visit a fever outpatient."
In addition, based on the government's policy to start nationwide travel support measures from October 11, "The new corona is an unstable virus that may still mutate. It is said, but I would like you to treat it as a with-risk, and do not forget that there is a risk next to it."
“Patients themselves should be well-known” Professor Tetsuya Matsumoto, International University of Health and Welfare
Tetsuya Matsumoto, chief professor at the International University of Health and Welfare, who is familiar with infectious disease control, commented on the fact that the total number of people infected with the new corona has been simplified nationwide, saying, "This change is due to the simultaneous epidemic with influenza, and the spread of infection will occur in the future. is also a turning point in maintaining the medical system.Since we will be facing the new coronavirus in a different way than before, it can be said that the way society perceives corona is also changing." I am evaluating.
On top of that, regarding future issues, he said, ``The national and local governments need to make it clear that patients themselves must take responsibility, such as recuperating at home for a certain period of time if they test positive. It is necessary to proceed while explaining to the public in an easy-to-understand manner how to change the measures to deal with the coronavirus along such a path."
A series of infection control measures for with corona
Depending on the changes in the characteristics of the new coronavirus and the progress of vaccination, the government will shift to home treatment for those who do not have symptoms, and review the movement restrictions of the people and restrictions on economic activities. have developed policies.
Among them, regarding the Omicron strain, young people have a low risk of becoming seriously ill, and the center of infection has changed from restaurants to facilities such as facilities for the elderly and schools, as well as domestic infections. Instead, we changed our policy to prevent the spread of infection and balance social and economic activities.
On top of that, in light of the fact that vaccination against the Omicron strain has started and the movement toward normalization of social and economic activities overseas is progressing, we have simplified the grasp of the total number of infected people, and the elderly and other severely ill people. In addition to focusing on medical care for people at risk of becoming infected, he announced that he would move to a new stage of measures against the new coronavirus by reviewing the period of medical treatment for patients and relaxing border measures.
In the future, even if the infection spreads, the government will be able to maintain socio-economic activities while keeping health and medical care functioning. We will continue to consider how to prevent infection.
It is also pointed out that detailed analysis of the infection situation will be difficult
Experts point out that the simplification of reporting makes it difficult to analyze the infection situation in detail, such as the speed at which the infection spreads.
Until now, many experts have been infected based on detailed information such as the place of residence, the date of onset of symptoms, and the route of infection of all infected people accumulated in the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's system ``HER-SYS'', which registers information on infected people. A detailed analysis of the location, route, and speed of spread of infection in the region was conducted, and the results were reported at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's expert meeting and have been used for countermeasures.
However, in prefectures that have previously requested detailed reports only from those at high risk of becoming seriously ill, the number of infected people entered into HER-SYS is significantly lower than the actual number of infected people. Professor Hiroshi Nishiura of Kyoto University, who has been conducting analysis, points out that it is no longer possible to immediately analyze the ``effective reproduction number,'' which indicates how many people one person has infected. increase.
Professor Nishiura said that since reporting has been simplified across the country, he will continue to work
on the effects of measures such as the declaration of a state of emergency and priority measures to prevent the spread of
infection, and how the infection situation has changed due to changes in people's behavior due to consecutive holidays. It is said that it will be impossible to analyze whether
In addition, since vaccination history will not be reported, it will not be possible to analyze
the effects of vaccines in the real world and
the percentage of people who have immunity, which may affect the timing of booster vaccinations. I don't think so.
Professor Nishiura said, "When a new mutated virus appears, we are concerned that it will take time to understand the spread of infection, and that it will be difficult to evaluate when countermeasures are needed all at once. We need to think about what kind of risk assessment can be done by collecting such information."
In addition, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases has so far analyzed the "effective reproduction number," an indicator of infection that indicates how many people one person infects, based on data on the date of onset of symptoms of the new coronavirus. However, since the date of onset of symptoms for many people will not be known in the future, analysis will be based on the data on the date when the infection was reported, and it is expected that strict analysis will be difficult.
Regarding this, Motoi Suzuki, Director of the Center for Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, said after an expert meeting on the 21st of this month, ``The number of effective reproductions estimated to be infected each day, and the cumulative number per 100,000 population in each age group. We will not be able to show trends in the number of infected people in the future.For the time being, it is expected that each local government and medical institution will have to go through trial and error.We will devise analysis materials while monitoring the situation."
Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Kato "If necessary, we will improve the operation"
At a press conference, Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Kato said, ``While there are opinions from local governments that have taken the initiative to reduce the burden on medical sites, etc., it is difficult to ascertain the health status and contact information of those who have tested positive. In light of this, we will cooperate with local governments and work to improve operations if necessary to ensure that clerical work proceeds smoothly. I would like to respond to this," he said.
Yamagiwa Corona Countermeasures Minister ``Preparing for the 8th wave, etc.''
Yamagiwa, the minister in charge of new corona countermeasures, said at a press conference, ``We will properly discuss and organize what we need to do this autumn and winter, when there is a risk of the eighth wave of infection and double infection with influenza. We need to be ready to operate properly after obtaining the necessary information.We will move forward by discussing the opinions of experts and social issues.”