Osaka Prefecture announced on August 5 that a total of 11 users and staff were infected with the new coronavirus at a facility for the disabled in Osaka City. On Thursday 6 August, Osaka Prefecture confirmed a record 225 new cases of coronavirus.
Between February and June this year, the number of persons with disabilities who had been dismissed from companies was 1,104, an increase of 152 (16.0%) compared to the same period last year, according to a summary by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare by August 4th. One of the reasons is that it became impossible to maintain employment due to the deterioration of business as the new coronavirus spread.
Hoping to reduce human contact, operator of Mos Burger shops, Mos Food Services Inc. introduced a robot that can take orders. The company unveiled to the press on Tuesday what customer service can look like with an OriHime robot that can be remotely controlled by people with disabilities who have difficulty leaving their homes. Mos Food Services expects the robot will not only help reduce human contact amid the coronavirus, but also help solve labor shortages.
Once the coronavirus arrived in Japan, the thought of getting infected and spreading it to family and friends made her too anxious to go outside. By late May, she couldn’t sleep. She visited a clinic in Tokyo and was diagnosed with depression.
One employee in his thirties who works at a facility for disabled people in Meguro Ward, Tokyo, was found to be infected with the new coronavirus, and the ward is calling for more thorough prevention of infection.
The Japanese government is expected to prioritize medical workers and elderly people for vaccination against COVID-19, as work to develop vaccines for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus shifts into full gear.
Representative of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Yukio Edano, has appealed for the creation of a benefit to support persons with disabilities whose income has been reduced due to the new coronavirus.
The largest proportion, at 84 clusters, or 35.3 pct of the total, was at hospitals. Social welfare facilities, such as nursing homes for the elderly, came in second, with 62 clusters, or 26.1 pct.
Due to the spread of the new coronavirus many home-care facilities that offer helpers to people with disabilities who have difficulties going out by themselves are suffering from lower revenues.
A group of women in Higashisonogawa, Kawatana “Wahaha de Mina” (representative Naoko Fujita) has called on people to donate unwanted cloth masks distributed by the government to all households to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus infection. For up to 30 days, collection boxes will be installed at convenience stores in the town. The collected masks are handed over to the disabled facilities in the town.
