The government announced Thursday it will ask people between the ages of 12 and 64 with a low risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms to refrain from going to so-called fever clinics, as it is preparing for a “twindemic” scenario where up to 750,000 will be infected with either the coronavirus or the flu per day this winter.
“It is necessary to prepare for a possible twindemic ahead of time,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said during a government meeting on the coronavirus.
Health minister Katsunobu Kato said that the government is preparing for the possibility that there will be up to 450,000 people infected with COVID-19 per day and 300,000 infected with the flu.