We would like to announce that the following three administrative notifications regarding countermeasures against COVID-19 in schools issued by MEXT.

Contact:
The Office for a Professional Platform of Health and Hygiene Environment in Schools for Foreign Students provided by MEXT
TEL: 050-3187-8114 (a multilingual consultation service)
Email: hsfs@mediphone.jp

Tentative English translation of the “Guidelines for Countermeasures in the case where COVID-19 Infection of Students, Teachers or Staff is confirmed at the Schools”

International Affairs Division, Minister's Secretariat,MEXT

We have prepared a tentative English translation of the “Guidelines for Countermeasures in the case where COVID-19 Infection of Students, Teachers or Staff is confirmed at the Schools (August 2022 Revised Edition)” (attachment 1), which was announced in the notification dated September 2, 2022, as shown in the attachment 2. In addition, we have also prepared a document summarizing
the major revisions to the Guidelines, which was announced in the notification dated August 30, 2021, for your reference.
Please be advised that this revision of the Guidelines also takes into account the points to be noted in response to the Omicron variant in the Guidelines, which were announced on February 3 and March 23, 2022.

We are sharing this announcement with you with the hope that it will be utilized as a reference for your consideration of your responses to COVID-19.

To Prefectural miscellaneous category school departments: Please send this notification to the miscellaneous schools for foreign students under your jurisdiction.
To JCIS and AEBJ: Please send this notification to members of your council or association.

（Attachment ）

Guidelines for Countermeasures in the Case Where COVID-19 Infection of Students,Teachers or Staff is Confirmed at the Schools (August 2022 Revised Edition)

When a case of COVID-19 is confirmed among students, teachers or staff at a school, in order for the school to be able to respond promptly in light of the situation of infection in the area and the volume of work of the public health center, it is important for the school and public health center to cooperate during normal times and to consent to an initial response system in place in advance.
These Guidelines summarize the way of thinking in identifying close contacts, etc. in a school and making decisions on temporary closure, mainly in regions where COVID-19 infections have spread.
For the schools and the establisher of school, please refer to these Guidelines so as to respond according to the situation of infection in the area.
These Guidelines are envisaged to be helpful in areas where there are no existing standards like the ones indicated in these Guidelines, or when the school establisher and the public health center need to discuss the response again when someone at the school tests positive for COVID-19, and if there are already similar standards in your area, you may follow them.

Moreover, based on the characteristics of the current Omicron variant, please note that even if cases of infection occur at a school, it may not be necessary for the health center to specify close contacts. (For details, please refer to “Identification of persons in close contact at each place where an incident of infection has occurred, restrictions on movements, and active epidemiological examinations, based on the characteristics of the prevalent B.1.1529 Omicron variant strain,” a notification issued by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) on July 30, 2022.)

1. Responses when a case of COVID-19 is confirmed at a school

When a case of COVID-19 is confirmed among students, teachers or staff at a school, if the person testing positive is a student, the principal should take measures to ensure that the student stays off school, whereas if the person testing positive is a teacher or staff member, such person should take sick leave or work from home, and should not be made to go to work by reason of an exemption from the obligation to fulfill their work duties.
In cases where students, teachers or staff are designated as close contacts because of relations with infected persons at schools where close contacts are specified by the health center, the same measures should be taken. However, as an emergency response in order to provide the necessary education to children at kindergartens, elementary schools, compulsory education schools, and special needs schools, teachers or staff who are determined to be close contacts may be allowed to go to the school under certain conditions. (For details, see “Responses to requests for refraining from going out to close contacts who are staff at health centers, kindergartens, elementary schools, etc.,” a notification issued by the MHLW on March 16, 2022.)

2. Identifying close contacts, etc

At present, the priority for the determination of close contacts may be given to high-risk facilities according to determination of the local government, but in cases where infection clusters have been confirmed, the local government deems that identification is necessary to prevent the spread of infections, or the local government decides has guidelines for the identification of close contacts and
for the restrictions of movement at regarding kindergartens, elementary schools, compulsory education schools, and special needs schools and for the restrictions of movement, the school may specify close contacts may be identified even in the school.
In such a case when COVID-19 is confirmed among students, teachers or staff, the public health center usually conducts an interview to look into the movements of the person testing positive and conducts an investigation to identify close contacts. However, with regard to schools in areas with wide-spread infections, in order to identify close contacts and persons in their vicinity subject to testing
(hereinafter referred to as “close contacts, etc.”) based on certain standards indicated by the relevant public health center, it may be necessary for the school to cooperate in preparing a list of possible close contacts, etc.

• In regards to identifications of close contacts, please also refer to the above-mentioned MHLW notification issued on July 30, 2022 and “Responses to COVID-19 infections of young children,” a MHLW notification issued on June 20, 2022.
• However, for schools where active epidemiological examinations are not conducted by the health center, it is not necessary for the schools to prepare a list of possible close contacts.
  Schools, boards of education, etc. should consult as much as possible with the public health management department and other related organizations in advance about the system for cooperation with the public health center

<Possible close contacts, etc.>
The range of possible close contacts, etc. within schools is considered to be students, teachers and staff who come under either of the following (1) or (2) during the contagious period of the person testing positive (the period from 2 days before symptom onset (in the case of asymptomatic people, 2 days before the sample collection date relating to the positive result) up to the date meeting the criteria of discharge or cancellation of medical treatment; same applies below) up until the date when the person testing positive is hospitalized or starts designated facility treatment or home treatment. Schools prepare candidate lists of close contacts if requested by the health center, and they are not required to take measures for the uniform suspension of attendance applicable to those falling under either category (1) or (2). Particularly regarding category (2), an appropriate judgment should be made based on the infection situation in the area and the state of activities at the school.

(1) Possible close contacts

-Any person who lives with the person testing positive (including those who live in the same room as the person testing positive in a dormitory, etc.) or who was in close contact for an extended period of time
-Any person who was taking care of the person testing positive without using proper infection prevention measures
-Any person who is highly likely to have come into direct contact with the droplets(sneezing, coughing, saliva, etc.) of the person testing positive (if a conversation took place within 1 meter without either person wearing a mask, they may be close contacts regardless of the length of time of the conversation.)
-Any person who has been in contact with the person testing positive for 15 minutes or more (for example, those who have been talking to the person testing positive)within arm’s length (1 meter as a guide) without necessary infection prevention measures (*).)

*For necessary infection prevention measures, check not only whether the person was wearing a mask, but also whether the person was wearing the mask in an inappropriate manner such as wearing the mask exposing the nose or on the chin.

(2) Possible people subject to testing in the vicinity of a close contact

-Any person who has been physically close to the person testing positive or who has had a high frequency of contact even if they were physically far away (students in the same class as the person testing positive)
-Any person who participated jointly in activities where they spoke or sang loudly, or engaged in exercise causing heavy exhalation (students engaging in the same club activities as the person testing positive)
-Any person who in their everyday life shares a place such as an eating area or bathroom with the person testing positive (students living in the same dormitory as the person testing positive)
-Otherwise, any person who came into contact with the person testing positive in an environment where infection control was inadequate, etc.

3.Measures for students to stay off school and decisions on temporary closure

In the event of there being the person testing positive at a school, the need to temporarily close the school in whole or in part will usually be decided by the school’s establisher based on an investigation by the public health center and the advice of the school doctor. However, it is appropriate for the school’s establisher to consider in advance the scope and conditions for temporary closure and make
them public when there is a high likelihood that the infection has spread within the school.

<Examples of the scope and conditions of temporary closure>
If there is a possibility that the infection has spread in the school, such as when a person tests positive and was not infected at home, the school should make the person testing positive stay off school, and consult the school doctor, etc. to consider temporary closure as follows.

[Class closure]
-If any of the following situations applies and there is a high likelihood that the infection has spread
within the class, the class should be closed.
(1) When it is confirmed that multiple students in the same class have tested positive
(2) If only one person has tested positive, but there are multiple people who have undiagnosed symptoms such as a cold
(3) Otherwise, if the establisher deems it to be necessary
*However, the onset of symptoms of those who have not come to the school during the possible infection period is excluded.
*For those schools where the identification of close contacts is conducted by the health center, etc., class closures should be considered in cases where there are multiple close contacts in addition to one student who has tested positive.
-From the perspective of preventing the spread of infection in a class, rather than focusing solely on the number of persons, the intent of "multiple" above is not to make class closures in cases where, for example, even if multiple students have tested positive in the same class, there is no connection between the infection routes of those students, or there is no concern of infection spreading to other
students in the class.
-The period of the class closure should be determined with approximately five days (including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays), based on the situation of monitoring of the infection, the extent of the infection spread, the impact on students and other factors.
However, in cases where persons have symptoms of undiagnosed colds etc. or test results of close contacts are negative, a flexible response is possible, including shortening the period of the class closure.

[Grade closure]
-To implement the grade closure if multiple grades in the school have been closed and there is a high possibility that the infection has spread within the grade.

[Temporary closure of the entire school]
-To implement the temporary closure of the entire school if multiple grade levels have been closed, and there is a high possibility that the infection has spread within the school.

Other than the above, basically, the school does not need to be temporarily closed as an initial response, but for schools where the health center, etc. specifies the close contacts, the temporary closure of the school may be considered during the period until the overall infection situation can be assessed.
Moreover, in cases when the identification of the close contacts is delayed due to the administrative situation of the health center, the reopening of the school may be considered, in consultation with the school doctor, approximately five days (including Saturdays, undays, and holidays) after the beginning of the temporary closure.