• Japan will look into putting Covid-19 in the same category as seasonal influenza.
• We will gradually transition the various policies and measures.
• There are still about 100,000 new infections there every day.

Japan will look into putting Covid-19 in the same category as seasonal influenza in spring, according to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Kishida stated that the idea had been discussed with Health Ministry officials and that his administration will also review the regulations governing face masks and other pandemic precautions.

We will gradually transition the various policies and measures in place to continue the efforts of “living with Corona” and return normalcy to Japan, Kishida added.

Although the number of daily Covid-19 infections in Japan has decreased over the past few weeks, there are still about 100,000 new infections there every day.

According to Japan’s Health Ministry, Covid-19 is classified as a Class 2 disease, sharing the same category as avian influenza and tuberculosis.

Officials will now talk about downgrading it to Class 5, which includes seasonal flu, the lowest classification.

After more than two years of pandemic restrictions, Japan fully opened its borders to foreign travelers in October of last year, putting an end to one of the tightest border controls in the world.

The United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes on its website that while influenza, or the common flu, and Covid-19 are both contagious respiratory infections with similar symptoms, they are each caused by a separate virus and require testing to confirm a diagnosis.

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