Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090606a3.html
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Pressure mounts to declare end to H1N1 outbreak
Compiled from Kyodo, Staff report
Staff report�qq Local and central government health authorities appeared split Friday over whether the country should declare an end to the outbreak of H1N1 swine flu.
Although experts in Osaka Prefecture said the outbreak is almost over, the government is showing reluctance to declare an end to the outbreak.
An Osaka panel of medical experts said Thursday the spread of swine flu in the prefecture has almost subsided, as few new cases have been found during the past week and most people who contracted H1N1 influenza have already recovered.
Given the panel's view, the prefecture is now waiting for Gov. Toru Hashimoto to make his final decision.
But Osaka's move was dismissed Friday by the government, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura saying the country is not yet in a situation to declare an end to the swine flu outbreak.
Health minister Yoichi Masuzoe also said Japan should closely watch how the World Health Organization assesses the global spread of swine flu in the coming weeks, adding that Japan will take steps in line with the WHO's policies.
But there were different views even within the Cabinet.
Transport minister Kazuyoshi Kaneko, who oversees the tourism industry, brought up the issue in a Cabinet meeting Friday morning and told other ministers that tourism businesses in the Kansai region have been hit hard by an increasing number of cancellations following the H1N1 outbreak last month.
"I wonder if it is appropriate for the government to just watch what happens" to the local tourism industry, Kaneko told the meeting, suggesting the Cabinet swiftly declare an end to the flu outbreak and encourage tourists to visit Kansai again.
On Friday, the tourism industry in Kyoto, impatient with the government's reluctance to declare an end to the outbreak, made the Okoshiyasu Declaration to help bring back tourists.
For many tourists, the well-known phrase in the Kyoto dialect, meaning "Please come," is most associated with well-dressed geisha and "maiko" ladies politely soliciting customers to visit the ancient capital.
Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada has also petitioned the government this week for action against the sharp plunge in tourism revenues weighing on the Kansai economy.
The swine flu outbreak has affected not only the local tourism industry but also school education.
The Osaka Municipal Government has said it will shorten summer vacations at city-run kindergartens, elementary and junior high schools, as well as special-needs schools, by five days from Aug. 26-31, to catch up with class schedules that have fallen behind following school closures due to the H1N1 outbreak.
Mayor Kunio Hiramatsu said the shortening of summer breaks is "the first case in the history of the city education and a once-in-a-century type of incident."
According to the city, the closure caused a shortfall of 20 to 24 class hours for elementary schools and 25 class hours for junior high schools.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Pressure mounts to declare end to H1N1 outbreak
Compiled from Kyodo, Staff report
Staff report�qq Local and central government health authorities appeared split Friday over whether the country should declare an end to the outbreak of H1N1 swine flu.
Although experts in Osaka Prefecture said the outbreak is almost over, the government is showing reluctance to declare an end to the outbreak.
An Osaka panel of medical experts said Thursday the spread of swine flu in the prefecture has almost subsided, as few new cases have been found during the past week and most people who contracted H1N1 influenza have already recovered.
Given the panel's view, the prefecture is now waiting for Gov. Toru Hashimoto to make his final decision.
But Osaka's move was dismissed Friday by the government, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura saying the country is not yet in a situation to declare an end to the swine flu outbreak.
Health minister Yoichi Masuzoe also said Japan should closely watch how the World Health Organization assesses the global spread of swine flu in the coming weeks, adding that Japan will take steps in line with the WHO's policies.
But there were different views even within the Cabinet.
Transport minister Kazuyoshi Kaneko, who oversees the tourism industry, brought up the issue in a Cabinet meeting Friday morning and told other ministers that tourism businesses in the Kansai region have been hit hard by an increasing number of cancellations following the H1N1 outbreak last month.
"I wonder if it is appropriate for the government to just watch what happens" to the local tourism industry, Kaneko told the meeting, suggesting the Cabinet swiftly declare an end to the flu outbreak and encourage tourists to visit Kansai again.
On Friday, the tourism industry in Kyoto, impatient with the government's reluctance to declare an end to the outbreak, made the Okoshiyasu Declaration to help bring back tourists.
For many tourists, the well-known phrase in the Kyoto dialect, meaning "Please come," is most associated with well-dressed geisha and "maiko" ladies politely soliciting customers to visit the ancient capital.
Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada has also petitioned the government this week for action against the sharp plunge in tourism revenues weighing on the Kansai economy.
The swine flu outbreak has affected not only the local tourism industry but also school education.
The Osaka Municipal Government has said it will shorten summer vacations at city-run kindergartens, elementary and junior high schools, as well as special-needs schools, by five days from Aug. 26-31, to catch up with class schedules that have fallen behind following school closures due to the H1N1 outbreak.
Mayor Kunio Hiramatsu said the shortening of summer breaks is "the first case in the history of the city education and a once-in-a-century type of incident."
According to the city, the closure caused a shortfall of 20 to 24 class hours for elementary schools and 25 class hours for junior high schools.