Study And Observation To Awake Japan Affordable PCR Is The Key To Tackle COVID-19

Busyness at Shibuya Station, Japan (Takahiro Taguchi / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Japan will establish a system that makes it easier for people without symptoms (OTG) COVID-19 to undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. The ease in question is in terms of process and accessibility, including ensuring low test costs.

Japan's Economic Revitalization Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said in an interview that his party was committed to providing the test "as smoothly and cheaply as possible." In Japan, the ministry led by Yasutoshi is in charge of handling pandemics at the national level.

“Some healthy people want to have a PCR test to ease their worries about infection. In addition, members of theater groups and professional sports teams are tested regularly because the coronavirus outbreak can pose a major threat to their business, "he said, quoted by Japantimes, Monday, October 26.

Currently, the national health insurance system in Japan does not cover PCR tests for people without symptoms of COVID-19. The optimization of this policy was taken by Japan based on a scientific basis, namely field studies and observations.

After Japan experienced a second wave of COVID-19 infections, analyzes of small-scale cluster infections carried out in a number of restaurants indicated that the risk of transmission was quite low in restaurants that took appropriate precautions.

"We can reduce the risk of infection by gathering only in small groups and by sitting diagonally across the table," he said. "We also found that there was no relationship between the number of visitors to shops or entertainment facilities and the number of infection cases."

In an effort to prevent a recurring wave of infections, Nishimura also stressed the importance of tightening infection control in the entertainment district. Studies and observations also show that a variant of the virus brought from Europe has its roots in the entertainment district in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

From there, the infection spread nationwide and caused second waves in July and August. Even as the infection spreads from the entertainment district, it is still possible to contain the outbreak by carrying out extensive PCR tests, said Yasutoshi.

"After that, we could consider the option of asking certain industrial companies to close or shorten their operating hours locally for a limited period," Yasutoshi.