Acting swiftly and aggressively over coronavirus fears, the Japanese government has announced a school closure plan for about a month starting Monday.
“The government attaches the top priority to the health and safety of children, among others,” PM Shinzo Abe told a meeting of key Cabinet ministers on the coronavirus crisis. “Efforts have been made to prevent the spread of infection among children in each region, and these one or two weeks will be an extremely critical period,” Abe said.
The Abe administration has also requested businesses to make it easy for workers to take paid leave, and said his government is considering ways to help part-time workers whose income might drop during the period when they cannot work as they need to take care of children staying at home.
The covid-19 virus, which broke out in mainland China, has already killed 2,804 and infected 77,660 others as of Tuesday evening.
Education ministry has requested all elementary, junior and high schools in the country be closed, as a result of which 13 million students will have to stay indoors. There has been no mention about universities or day care centres.
"We ask for the cooperation of relevant ministries and agencies so that pupils and students will stay at home in principle and not go outside unless it is necessary," said education minister Koichi Hagiuda.
Ministry sources said the school closure plan is not mandatory, and education boards can be flexible to open the institutions in their jurisdictions.
The main island of Hokkaido has closed down all 1,600 elementary and middle schools after 54 cases were confirmed.
So far, Japan has had 210 cases of coronavirus, including four deaths. There have also been at least 705 coronavirus cases and four deaths from the American-owned Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, which was quarantined for a fortnight.
Parents have expressed their concern about the school closings as working families will find it difficult to keep children alone at home. Japan's school calendar ends in March and a new academic year starts in early April.
