The government adopted a new policy Friday that designates infected regions under one of two categories so local governments, hospitals and schools can react with greater flexibility.
The policy, which includes ending onboard quarantine checks on airplanes, is aimed at minimizing the impact of the state's flu response on businesses and daily life, since the symptoms of the H1N1 virus have been relatively mild.
Until now, Japan's flu protocol was based on an outbreak of the more powerful H5N1 bird flu, which is estimated to have a 60 percent mortality rate. The policy required that countermeasures be uniformly applied to all infected areas.