Japan minister aims to control COVID while achieving growth
ABC News
The Japanese minister assigned the task of containing COVID-19 while steering the world’s third largest economy toward growth says Japan must learn to coexist with the coronavirus
TOKYO -- The Japanese minister responsible for containing COVID-19 while steering the world’s third largest economy toward growth says he is confident he can carry out that precarious “balancing act.”
“We know infectious diseases aren’t going away ever,” Daishiro Yamagiwa said Wednesday at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo. “Co-existing with them while revitalizing the economy toward growth is our job,” he said.
Japan had managed to cut new infections to very low levels last fall, then loosening precautions mean to keep the virus at bay. But medical experts warn it should expect a surge of COVID infections in the next few weeks. Daily reported cases are totaling several thousand nationwide, roughly tripling from last week.
Japan has responded flexibly against its “invisible enemy," setting up a system of quarantines at home for those sick with the omicron variant of coronavirus, instead of hospitalization for all, and speeding up vaccine boosters, said Yamagiwa, a veterinarian and graduate of the prestigious Yamaguchi University.
