September 22 & 23, 2021
Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira at a press conference on September 21 in the Diet building released an urgent proposal for COVID-19 countermeasures at children's daycare centers.
Associated with the rapid spread of the delta variant in Japan, there has been a rise in infections among children, forcing 66 childcare facilities to close as of September 16, almost fourfold compared to early July. Many parents are avoiding taking their children to daycare centers.
Koike said that many childcare workers are complaining that even when an infection was found at their center, no government-provided PCR test was conducted and they now have to take on extra workloads in association with stricter COVID-19 countermeasures but there is no support from the government.
Koike stated that the JCP will demand that the government: swiftly provide PCR tests and conduct regular testing; ensure income compensation so that parents can take days off without anxiety to care for their children; take responsibility to implement appropriate COVID-19 prevention measures at children's daycare centers; review the national minimum standard for the size of childcare centers in relation to the number of children attending without delay from the viewpoint of infection prevention; and distribute test kits to each family so that parents can test their children as soon as their kids become ill.
The following day, JCP Vice Chair and the party's policy commission chief Tamura Tomoko (Upper House lawmaker), Umemura Saeko in charge of the JCP children's rights commission (former Lower House lawmaker), and Miyamoto Toru (Lower House lawmaker) made a representation to the Ministry of Health and Welfare based on this urgent proposal.
Tamura said, "With the current national standards, the density of children at daycare centers is very high. The government should immediately review the standards."
Past related articles:
> Zenroren demands income compensation for parents affected by COVID-19 school closures [September 16, 2021]
> Shinfujin urges gov’t to implement measures to prevent COVID-19 infections in schools after summer break [August 26, 2021]
Associated with the rapid spread of the delta variant in Japan, there has been a rise in infections among children, forcing 66 childcare facilities to close as of September 16, almost fourfold compared to early July. Many parents are avoiding taking their children to daycare centers.
Koike said that many childcare workers are complaining that even when an infection was found at their center, no government-provided PCR test was conducted and they now have to take on extra workloads in association with stricter COVID-19 countermeasures but there is no support from the government.
Koike stated that the JCP will demand that the government: swiftly provide PCR tests and conduct regular testing; ensure income compensation so that parents can take days off without anxiety to care for their children; take responsibility to implement appropriate COVID-19 prevention measures at children's daycare centers; review the national minimum standard for the size of childcare centers in relation to the number of children attending without delay from the viewpoint of infection prevention; and distribute test kits to each family so that parents can test their children as soon as their kids become ill.
The following day, JCP Vice Chair and the party's policy commission chief Tamura Tomoko (Upper House lawmaker), Umemura Saeko in charge of the JCP children's rights commission (former Lower House lawmaker), and Miyamoto Toru (Lower House lawmaker) made a representation to the Ministry of Health and Welfare based on this urgent proposal.
Tamura said, "With the current national standards, the density of children at daycare centers is very high. The government should immediately review the standards."
Past related articles:
> Zenroren demands income compensation for parents affected by COVID-19 school closures [September 16, 2021]
> Shinfujin urges gov’t to implement measures to prevent COVID-19 infections in schools after summer break [August 26, 2021]
