Japan cuts quarantine for Covid family members to 7 days

Japan’s health ministry announced a relaxation of rules for family members living with Covid-positive people

Japan’s health ministry announced a relaxation of rules for family members living with Covid-positive people, shortening quarantine to seven days providing they have no symptoms, Qazet.az reports citing the Japan Times.

The Times has the details:

Due to a rapid increase in the number of infection cases among children, guardians taking care of infected kids have had to remain isolated for a maximum of 17 days before resuming social activities.

People living with Covid-19 patients are considered close contacts and until now have been asked to stay home for a maximum of 17 days, as the ministry previously required a seven-day wait for family members from the time patients ended their 10-day self-isolation.

Of close contacts, 99.98% developed symptoms within seven days of the symptom onset for the Covid-19 carriers they came in contact with, according to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

The ministry, therefore, judged it appropriate to shorten the quarantine period for close contacts.

It comes after Japan broke its daily Covid record on Wednesday, with 94,908 cases according to the Times, exceeding the 90,000 mark for the first time. That’s roughly double the 45,997 infections reported on Thursday two weeks ago.

In Tokyo alone, a record 21,576 cases were detected yesterday.