Japan to lower COVID to influenza category

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday announced plans to prepare for an exit plan for COVID-19 and downgrade its status to levels equivalent to seasonal flu. The announcement comes just as Japan faces record levels of COVID-19 deaths among elderly patients as the country's 8th wave of outbreak since the pandemic began three years ago.

On Thursday, Japan confirmed 96,392 new cases of the coronavirus with 451 deaths. Friday's announcement came after a recommendation by a panel of experts that offering the view on the impact of making COVID-19 a Class 5 disease under infectious disease legislation.