Fukushima Prefecture provides online training on infection control for elderly and disabled people

From Fukushima Minpo News via Yahoo! Japan

May 26 2021

FUKUSHIMA – On May 25, Fukushima Prefecture held an online training session on countermeasures against the new coronavirus for employees of facilities for the elderly and disabled. The purpose was to prevent the outbreak of clusters. This is the first time that a prefectural government has held a training session for elderly welfare facilities and support facilities for the disabled.

Professor Keiji Kanemitsu of the Department of Infection Control, Fukushima Medical University, who serves as an advisor to the prefectural government on infectious disease countermeasures, gave a lecture. In the training for elderly welfare facilities, Kanemitsu pointed out that in addition to daily measures to prevent the introduction of viruses into the facilities, it is important to educate staff to detect abnormalities as soon as possible. They should tell their superiors immediately if they feel any discomfort, and take action on the assumption of infection.

In the training for support facilities for the disabled, Kanemitsu advised that they should prepare for what to do in the event of an infected person or a person in close contact.

Two hundred and fifty people from 123 facilities for the elderly participated in the training, and 331 people from 90 facilities for the disabled participated in the training. They also learned about case studies of responses to clusters.