Tokyo, 14 July, /AJMEDIA/
The minister in charge of Japan’s COVID-19 response said Thursday the government does not expect to ask people to curb social and economic activities again even as the country faces a seventh wave of infections in recent weeks fueled by the highly-transmissible BA.5 Omicron subvariant.
Daishiro Yamagiwa, who also serves as economic revitalization minister, said at a meeting of a coronavirus expert panel that the government has no such plan at this point and added, “We will appropriately respond to the spread of the virus by facilitating vaccination and utilizing testing.”
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will hold a press conference late Thursday afternoon to explain the government’s response to the resurgence of the virus after the country reported a day earlier a total of 94,493 new COVID-19 cases, approaching the peak of some 104,000 daily cases the country saw in February.
Tourism minister Tetsuo Saito separately announced the postponement of a plan to resume a travel subsidy program in the wake of the rapid spread of the virus. The government had initially planned to restart the program in the first half of July to help the battered tourism industry.
To curb further spread of the virus through travel and socializing during the upcoming summer vacation period, the government is planning to request the country’s 47 prefectures set up free COVID-19 testing sites at major stations and airports between Aug. 5 and 18 so people who have not undergone a third vaccination, among others, can check their infection status.
The government also plans to accelerate the third round of vaccinations targeting those in their 20s and 30s while pushing forward with fourth shots to elderly people at care facilities.
