TOKYO: The number of questionable acts, including harassment and bullying, targeting local communities affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 new coronavirus and people involved in dealing with the situation has been on the rise in Japan.

The municipal government of Yuasa in the western prefecture of Wakayama has been receiving a flurry of inquiries related to its return gifts given to people making donations to the town under the country's "furusato nozei" hometown donation program.

Such inquiries started to increase after suspicion of in-hospital infection with the virus at a medical institution in the town arose.

Some of people who made donations under the program declined to accept a return gift of locally produced fruits out of concern about infection.

The Japanese Association for Disaster Medicine claimed in a statement issued on Feb. 22 that some medical workers who were engaged in activities to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship suffered mistreatment, such as being called "germ" or asked not to take their children to nurseries. "These are human rights issues, so we strongly protest," it said.

Hideaki Furukawa, the 65-year-old principal of Kansai Okura Gakuen junior high and senior high schools in the city of Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, says he feels sad when he remembers what happened to the schools some 10 years ago.

In 2009, about 100 of the schools' 1,900 students were found to have been infected with a new type of influenza, leading to a temporary shutdown of the schools. The schools received dozens of harassing phone calls, including one saying, "Get out of this city!"

Photos of the schools' uniforms were posted on an internet forum, along with messages that "don't come close to students wearing the uniforms" and "you'll get the virus if you approach the schools."

After the schools reopened following a suspension of about two weeks, a doctor from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases visited the schools and gave encouragement to students in a lecture.

Noting that he cannot forget the doctor's words, Furukawa stressed the importance of calm response to the ongoing viral outbreak.

JIJI Press