1. On February 13, the Government of Japan adopted by a Cabinet Decision and promulgated the “Cabinet Order for Designating Novel Coronavirus Infection as a Type of Infectious Disease Under Article 34 of the Quarantine Act” (Cabinet Order No. 28 of 2020) and the “Cabinet Order Partially Amending the Enforcement Order of the Quarantine Act” (Cabinet Order No. 29 of 2020). These cabinet orders entered into force on the following day, February 14.
2. For the purpose of preventing pathogens causing novel coronavirus infection from entering Japan, under the “Cabinet Order for Designating Novel Coronavirus Infection as a Type of Infectious Disease Under Article 34 of the Quarantine Act” (Cabinet Order No. 28 of 2020) and the “Cabinet Order Partially Amending the Enforcement Order of the Quarantine Act” (Cabinet Order No. 29 of 2020), which entered into force on February 14, the following measures stipulated in the Quarantine Act are permitted to be taken during quarantine implemented upon arrival into Japan. Suspected carriers and carriers who have no symptoms will be deemed carriers of novel coronavirus.
(1) Isolation
If it is found during quarantine that a person is a novel coronavirus carrier, a chief of a quarantine station (quarantine officer) may isolate this individual (by hospitalizing him/her at an entrusted medical institution designated for infectious diseases).
(2) Detention
If it is found during quarantine that a person may be infected with a pathogen causing novel coronavirus infection, a chief of a quarantine station (quarantine officer) may detain this potentially infected individual (by hospitalizing him/her at an entrusted medical institution designated for infectious diseases, etc. or by accommodating the individual in an accommodation facility or on a vessel).