Japan will bring forward the date that the coronavirus will become a 'desig...
TOKYO - Japan will bring forward the date that the coronavirus will become a “designated infectious disease” and warned its citizens on Friday to put off non-urgent travel to China as a third chartered flight repatriating its nationals arrived from Wuhan.
The government classified the new coronavirus as a designated infectious disease on Tuesday, but the designation will take effect on Saturday rather than the original date of Feb. 7. The designation allows compulsory hospitalization and the use of public funds for treatment, among other measures. “We decided on these changes in view of the World Health Organization’s declaration of a global emergency,” Suga said.
The third flight out of Wuhan, which arrived on Friday morning, brings the total number of repatriated nationals to 565. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Japan is making arrangements to repatriate all Japanese who want to return from Wuhan and surrounding areas, but that a fourth plane is unlikely to be dispatched this week.
“We still don’t know how strongly contagious this is ... we understand that everybody is concerned,” he said, warning there were limits to what the government could do while still respecting human rights.
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