Parents with children in some nurseries in Japan have been put on the spot by being asked to consider keeping their young at home to help reduce the number of children in the facilities' care and curb the risk of coronavirus infections.
The requests, made by municipalities in coronavirus hotspot areas, come amid the closure of a number of nurseries due to cluster infections among staff and children. But they also come as the central government asks facilities to stay open as much as possible, and have left parents confused about whether to comply.
A 36-year-old mother in Tokyo said she was "in shock" when, immediately after the country's second state of emergency was declared in early January, she was asked by the day care facility looking after her 2-year-old eldest son if she could keep him at home due to "infection risks in group nursing."