To: empyrean8, FYI

From: Japan Today


Aso calls for calm response as new flu infections reach 130 in Japan
Monday 18th May, 10:43 AM JST

TOKYO —
The number of new-flu cases in Japan has reached 130 after 34 more infections were confirmed Monday in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, according to Kyodo News calculations.

The spread of the new H1N1 strain of influenza A has triggered the closure of almost all schools as well as some kiosks in the two western Japan prefectures.

Prime Minister Taro Aso called on the public Monday morning for calm at a meeting of the government task force on the influenza epidemic.

Aso said the Japanese government at this stage has no plans to ask citizens to refrain from going on outings, holding meetings or scaling down corporate activity.

The age of those confirmed infected with the new flu strain ranged from 5 to 60.

Many of the infections have been found among high school students in the two prefectures with no record of recent overseas travel, according to the health ministry and local authorities.

The government task force decided not to upgrade its measures aimed at coping with the spread of the new flu from the current phase 2, which refers to an early stage of domestic outbreak.

‘‘Many infected people have received appropriate treatment at an early stage and recovered,’’ Aso said at the meeting. ‘‘I would like all the people in Japan to act calmly.’’

But the premier warned that those suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes could fall seriously ill if infected with the flu.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said the government will consider raising its antiflu steps to phase 3 to tackle the widening infections after hearing expert opinion.

The government will upgrade its measures when medical workers fail to detect links among new-flu transmissions or grasp how the flu is spreading, officials said, adding none of the 130 infected have fallen seriously ill.

The new flu, which has claimed a total of 76 lives in Mexico, the United States, Canada and Costa Rica, has been spreading rapidly in western Japan and has slowly begun to affect daily life in the region.

According to announcements by local authorities, almost all schools in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures will suspend classes this week to prevent the further spread of the disease.

But the city of Osaka kept daycare centers open because their closure would cause problems for working parents.

At an Osaka prefectural high school in Neyagawa, about 100 students came to the school without noticing it had been closed. A 36-year-old housewife in Yao, whose daughter is an elementary school student, complained that the school was late relaying information on the suspension of classes to parents.

A subsidiary of West Japan Railway Co, a railway operator commonly known as JR West, said it will close several kiosks in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, for the time being because one of its employees has contracted the flu. Kobe city said the infected employee is a 53-year-old woman working at a kiosk at JR Sannomiya Station.

At JR Ibaraki Station, which is close to Kansai Okura Senior High School that is connected to many new-flu infections, about 80 percent of passengers were wearing masks. A 50-year-old female restaurant worker at the station said she tries to avoid crowds.

‘‘The flu is scary because it is invisible,’’ she said.

Mayumi Seki, a 54-year-old kiosk worker at Sannomiya Station on a Hanshin railway line said, ‘‘I didn’t know anything (about the flu). I’m worried because I could be infected tomorrow.’’ At JR Osaka Station, kiosks were sold out of masks.

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, a unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, said a female employee in her 20s in charge of asset management at its Sannomiya branch in Kobe, was confirmed to have contracted the new strain of influenza A. The employee has not traveled abroad lately, either.

The bank said she had offered consultations to customers at the counter until last Friday and that it has ordered 60 other workers at the branch not to come to work and to stand by at home.

Hyogo Gov Toshizo Ido met with Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe to bolster the central government’s financial support for municipalities tackling the new-flu outbreak.

Osaka Gov Toru Hashimoto, who also met Masuzoe later in the day, said in Osaka that the health minister should lead national efforts to combat the disease.

Hashimoto, who issued a warning against a flu epidemic in an emergency press conference held in early hours of Monday, urged junior high and high school students to stay at home during the seven-day school closure period.

Meanwhile, the city of Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, has told students who visited Kobe on a school trip not to come to the school for about a week.

Ido has complained that this is an ‘‘excessive’’ measure, but Kitakyushu Mayor Kenji Kitahashi said at a press conference Monday that the step is reasonable as it would prevent the spread of new-flu infections in the southwestern Japan city.

The total infection figure includes four cases discovered during onboard quarantine inspections at Narita airport among a group of Japanese students and teachers who after a trip to Canada flew home earlier this month via the United States.

On a global level, 8,836 people in 41 countries and regions had been confirmed infected with the new flu as of 11 a.m. Monday Japan time, including the 76 deaths