Japan entered its post-pandemic phase Monday, officially downgrading COVID-19 to a status on par with seasonal flu and doing away with a range of coronavirus measures.
The plan to reclassify the disease from one similar to Class 2, used for severe infectious diseases such as SARS and tuberculosis, to Class 5 under the Infectious Diseases Control Law was announced in January. The move follows the easing of mask guidance in March, after which decisions on both indoor and outdoor masking have been largely left up to individuals.
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