COVID-19 Measures Get Milder

In the annual press conference after visiting Ise Jingu shrine on January 4th, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he would revise current COVID-19 policy of accepting all the patients into hospitals and recommend them to stay home except in crucial condition. In the explosive infectious season last summer to fall, known as the fifth wave, a number of patients lost their lives at home without necessary treatment in the hospitals. While Kishida’s decision is supposed to be based on the notion that Omicron variant of the virus may not cause so severe consequences as other variants, his political power can decline as we saw in previous administrations, if high transmissibility of the virus brings social panic and economic downturn.

According to the current governmental guideline, the COVID-19 positives have to go into hospitals and “the close contacts” have to stay in registered facilities like hotels. “Local governments with sudden expansion of infection can, by their own decision, take advantage of the accommodations or patients’ own home to avoid medical shortage,” told Kishida to the reporters. A top leader always faces two alternatives: public health or economy, forced or voluntary preventive measures, or hospitalization or staying home. At this time, the premier looks like betting on mildness of the variant.

However, Omicron is showing abrupt and broad transmission. After confirmation of collective patient group in US military bases, the COVID-19 positives in Okinawa are obviously increasing, as the Governor Denny Tamaki has appealed “We are already in the sixth wave.” The national government is considering issuing “prevalence preventive measures” to Okinawa within few days. Omicron has been detected in most prefectures, making local governments nervous.

While the Prime Minister touched on a possibility of requesting early close of shops and restaurants in case high occupation of hospital beds is predictable, he was not positive with tighter quarantine in international airports. The government is planning faster booster shots for aged people, and expecting agreement with Phizer for saving an oral antiviral, Paxloid, by the end of the month. It may be too optimistic, however, if they believe in receiving public confidence to their policy, since previous administrations were repeatedly failing in securing necessary vaccines or medicines. 

Kishida has been insisting that he would be not be too careful to take care of public health, putting himself on the side of the ordinary people. That would be along with his conviction of importance of the middle class. But this new virus always goes beyond assumption of political leaders or medical experts. If the infection deeply affects ordinary activities of the people, and causes restriction of businesses, supporting rate of Kishida administration, which showed minor boost last month, may immediately decline.

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