Regarding measures against the new coronavirus, Nishimura, the minister in charge of economic revitalization, said in NHK's "Sunday Debate" that while the group of infected people = clusters are diversifying, companies and universities are using antigen test kits at an early stage. He showed the idea of preventing the outbreak of clusters by finding infected people.
With the extension of the state of emergency, the government plans to distribute up to 8 million simple antigen test kits so that infected people can be found early in medical institutions and facilities for the elderly.
Based on this, Nishimura, the minister in charge of economic revitalization, said in the program, "Antigen test kits can be made cheaply and easily in a short time, so we are thinking of using them in medical institutions and facilities for the elderly where many clusters are occurring. However, clusters continue to occur in the athletic club and chorus club of the university. "
On top of that, "Recently, as the clusters are diversifying, there are cases where people who are sick at work come out and spread the infection. I would like to expand the mechanism to understand in a short time, "he said, and expressed his intention to prevent the occurrence of clusters by using antigen test kits at companies and universities to find infected people at an early stage.
On the other hand, regarding the criteria for canceling the state of emergency, Minister Nishimura said, "We will aim for" Stage 2 "with" Stage 3 "as a certainty." Considering the infectivity of mutant strains, we should think more carefully. " I'd like to come up with that idea, but I can't continue it all the time, and I have to release it somewhere. I want to see if the conditions are in place to prevent the next big wave. " Said.
In addition, Mr. Omi, chairman of the government subcommittee, pointed out that it is important not to cause a major re-spread of infection by the end of vaccination of the elderly. Sometimes, if you release it right away, the same thing will happen right away, so it's very important to be patient this time. "