TOKYO, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan's education ministry on Tuesday unveiled guidelines for schools reopening in April to reduce the risk of coronavirus infections.
"The situation has not improved. We want schools to prepare for reopening without lowering their guard," Japanese Education Minister Koichi Hagiuda told a news conference on the matter.
The guidelines for schools preparing to reopen their doors to students in the new academic year, urge that schools remain well ventilated, gatherings in groups be avoided, as well as conversations held at close range, be it between students or students and teachers.
Students and teachers are also being asked to wear face masks, regularly check their body temperatures and wash their hands thoroughly before eating school lunches, according to the guidelines.
Students who are confirmed infected will be suspended from school, along with those they have had close contact with, the guidelines also said
School operators, under the guidelines, will be required to liaise closely with local health officials and authorities, and when an infection is confirmed, decide if only the infected individual be suspended, order a partial shutdown, or a complete shutdown of the school.
"We want schools to carefully consult with the prefectural governments in deciding when to reopen classes, taking into consideration how the virus has been spreading locally," Hagiuda also told a parliamentary session.
On Feb. 28, the education ministry asked schools nationwide to shut down until the end of spring break in early April and for students to remain indoors while at home, as efforts were ramped up to curb the spread of the coronavirus in Japan.
Some schools in Japan reopened for lessons on March 16 after being shut for around two weeks, however, as the requested shutdown by the ministry was not mandatory.
At the time, education boards of Toyama, Shizuoka, Hamamatsu and Naha cities as well as Okinawa Prefecture, initially, decided to resume classes at their elementary and junior high schools, as they judged the virus had not affected their communities.
Hagiuda said that education ministry could henceforth ask for schools to be shuttered again should needs dictate, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, if a state of emergency over the pneumonia-causing virus is declared, having the power under a new law to compulsorily close schools.
The new guidelines come as Japan's health ministry and local governments said Tuesday the total number of people infected with the COVID-19 virus in Japan stood at 1,172, with 32 new cases recorded by 10 local governments including 17 cases in Tokyo, with the capital now confirming the most cases nationwide, as of 6:45 p.m. local time here.
The death toll in Japan from the pneumonia-causing virus currently stands at a total of 52 people, according to the health ministry, with the figure including those from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama, close to Tokyo.
Of the 1,172 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan, the majority are now in Tokyo, which has confirmed 171 cases, followed by Hokkaido with 163, Aichi Prefecture has 145 cases, while Osaka Prefecture has confirmed 134 COVID-19 infections, according to the latest statistics from health ministry and local authorities.
