TOKYO: The Japanese government plans to lower the classification of COVID-19 under the infectious disease law May 8, government sources said Thursday.

The government will decide to reclassify the disease from Category II to Category V, the same as seasonal flu, at a meeting of its COVID-19 response headquarters Friday afternoon.

It will also consider relaxing face-mask guidance.

May 8 is the first business day after Japan’s Golden Week holiday period from late April.

The health ministry is expected to gather opinions from experts on the changes at a meeting of its infectious disease panel Friday morning.

On Wednesday, experts at a meeting of the ministry’s advisory board said that “individuals and groups will make their own choices (on future infection prevention measures) instead of taking uniform measures based on government requests.”

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed his ministers Friday to consider the reclassification, saying, “We will further efforts to live with the novel coronavirus and restore Japan to normalcy.”

The infectious disease law classifies infectious diseases in a five-tier system based on the severity of symptoms and infectiousness.

By lowering COVID-19 to Category V, the government will lose the legal basis for recommending hospitalizations to novel coronavirus carriers and fully covering medical expenses with public funds.

It will also become unable to declare a state of emergency or pre-emergency that justifies tough measures to combat the disease.

JIJI Press