TOKYO: Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party adopted Tuesday a bill aimed at eliminating discrimination against people who are infected with the novel coronavirus.

The bill would ban companies from firing employees on the ground of infection and from not allowing employees to come to office after recovering from COVID-19.

The LDP aims to submit the legislation to the current session of parliament as a lawmaker-initiated bill.

But as the bill does not stipulate penalties, there will be uncertainty over its effectiveness.

The bill says nobody may discriminate against others in connection with the coronavirus. It would also ban online defamation and revealing coronavirus carriers’ personal information.

The bill was drafted mainly by Shuichi Takatori, a House of Representatives member from the LDP, who became the first Japanese lawmaker to be infected with the virus.

“We need legislation to eliminate terrible discrimination and human rights abuses due to the coronavirus,” Takatori told reporters after the party adopted the bill.

JIJI Press