122nd Meeting of the COVID-19 Advisory Board of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (June 16, 2023)Material 1

Evaluation of the Latest Infection Status of COVID-19 Infections

Infection status and situation of the medical care provision system

• The number of new patients has tended to gradually increase since the beginning of April, and has continued to increase for four consecutive weeks even after the downgrade to Class 5.
  (5.11 per fixed point from 6/5 to 6/11, 1.12 compared to the previous week)
• The number of new patients by region tended to increase from the previous week in 36 prefectures, and a tendency for infection to spread can be seen in Okinawa.
  (18.41 per fixed point from 6/5 to 6/11, 1.17 compared to the previous week)
• The number of new patients by age group is increasing nationwide from the previous week, except for those aged 80 and over.
• Regarding trends in the occurrence of variants, XBB lineages account for most of them, and in particular, the XBB.1.16 lineage tends to increase, the XBB.1.5 lineage tends to decrease, and the XBB.1.9 lineage remains flat.
• The numbers of newly hospitalized patients and severe cases are both on an increasing trend (It should be noted that recent data are underestimated).
• Regarding the situation of the medical care provision system, although it is not strained nationwide, the situation in Okinawa demands attention.
• In emergency medical care, the number of cases of difficult emergency transportation has increased recently for both suspected COVID-19 and suspected non-COVID-19 cases.
• Regarding the nighttime population, no significant increase has been seen nationwide since the downgrade to Class 5.

Future outlook

• Based on the past situation, it is possible that the number of new patients will continue to increase, and that infection will spread to a certain extent during the summer. The spread of infection may also increase the burden on the medical care provision system.
• It is necessary to pay attention to the impact of the attenuation of immunity that is due to natural infection and vaccination, the increase in the proportion of strains with potential immune escape, and the impact of future increases in contact opportunities on the infection situation.

Future efforts

• Pursuit of a multi-layered understanding of infection trends will continue, paying particular attention to medical care provision systems in regions where the number of infected people is still increasing.
• For people at high risk of severe illness, such as the elderly and those with underlying diseases, vaccination will continue to proceed, as well as shift to a medical system will promote so that a wide range of medical institutions will handle COVID-19 patients in order to provide necessary medical care even if the infection spreads, in cooperation with local governments and medical personnel.
• Basic infection control measures such as washing hands, ventilation, and wearing masks in effective situations will be promoted.