Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday that said the Japanese government will place COVID-19 in the same category of infectious diseases as the seasonal flu. 

"Until some special circumstances occur, we have confirmed that from May 8, COVID-19 will be placed to the fifth category of infectious diseases, which also includes seasonal flu," Kishida said to Ameba News.

Consequentially, downgrading the Covid 19 to a class 5 infectious disease will entail the suspension of all sorts of precautionary measures like the seven-day quarantine requirement for those infected with the virus and the five-day isolation requirement for those who were in close contact with those infected with the virus. 

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Additionally, special facilities will be abandoned and covid patients will start receiving treatment at ordinary hospitals. 

Covid-related healthcare compensations will reportedly cease following the downgrade of covid from a pandemic to a class 5 disease. 

However, over the past couple of months, Japan has seen an increase in COVID-related fatalities. The controversy over whether the government should abandon the strict COVID-19 regulations has been complicated by the discrepancy between official statistics and the real epidemiological situation in the country.

According to experts, the spike in Covid-related fatalities has not been brought on by a higher risk of complications but rather by the fact that COVID-19-related pneumonia and cardiovascular disorders, strokes, and heart attacks are killing more people than before.

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