KYODO NEWS - Apr 3, 2020 - 15:08 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

Japanese local governments have been advised to help people with mild coronavirus symptoms recover at home or hotels, the health ministry said Friday.

The request is aimed at saving hospital beds for more severe cases amid a recent surge in the number of new infections, especially in Tokyo and other urban areas.

The ministry asked prefectural governments across the country on Thursday to consider securing hotels or preparing facilities to accept patients infected with the virus but who show only mild symptoms.

Each local government can determine what measures to take, according to the ministry.

Under the infectious diseases law, patients in Japan should in principle be hospitalized, regardless of the severity of their symptoms. But the government wishes to avoid putting too much strain on hospitals as the epidemic gathers pace.

The ministry has also relaxed conditions for COVID-19 patients to be discharged from hospitals, allowing them to leave two days after their symptoms are gone if they test negative twice. The period was shortened from two and a half days.

Patients with higher risks of developing severe symptoms such as the elderly, pregnant women and people with underlying medical problems are excluded from those subject to treatment at home or hotels, the ministry said.

Local municipalities will rent the hotels, with costs to be incorporated in the central government's emergency economic package to be funded by a fiscal 2020 supplementary budget.

Among patients with mild symptoms, people who have elderly family members as well as hospital or nursing staff in their families will have the priority to use the hotels.

Medical staff will be deployed at the hotels to take quarantine measures, disinfect toilets, provide food and other livelihood support.

The Tokyo metropolitan government is already negotiating with several hotels to accommodate patients with mild symptoms, sources close to the matter said.

"We are promptly securing places for recuperation at this moment. We want to create an environment for the people to feel safe," Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said to reporters.