Ministry To Issue Guidance For Nursing Homes
Japan's health ministry will issue guidance for nursing homes to prevent the spread of coronavirus among the elderly, whose symptoms could get serious if infected.
The ministry plans to notify local governments of the new measures as early as Monday.
Care facility workers will be required to check their body temperature before going to work. They must also refuse any visitor with a fever or other symptoms who wants to meet with an elderly resident.
Workers must also monitor the body temperature of elderly patients attending daycare programs and decline their participation if they show symptoms.
The move comes after an employee at a geriatric health service facility in Tokyo was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Saturday.
Ministry officials hope that the measures will help slow the spread of infection. They are urging nursing home staff to take days off work if they developed cold-like symptoms.
