TOKYO: In response to the Japanese Nursing Association's call on former nurses to return to work amid the COVID-19 epidemic, 110 of them had met the request as of Monday, the association's head, Toshiko Fukui, revealed on Wednesday.

Of the 110, 47 have started to work at COVID-19 telephone counselling centers, 30 at accommodation facilities where mildly ill patients are staying, and eight at clinics or hospitals.

The association made the request to about 50,000 former nurses by email on April 8, a day after the government declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus disease in Tokyo and six other prefectures.

Meanwhile, the association is asking the health ministry to pay hazard allowances to nurses who have had contact with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients.

"Nursing staff's pay levels are not high, although they work night shifts," Fukui, the association president, told an online press conference on Wednesday.

"Moreover, they face infection risks, so we hope that hazard allowances will be introduced for them," she stressed.

Fukui also called for financial aid for nurses who are staying at hotels due to the risk of transmitting the virus to family members at home.

JIJI Press