Descriptive epidemiology of 516 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection reported by the national epidemiological surveillance of infectious diseases (NESID) system and active epidemiological surveillance (as of March 23, 2020)

Posted date 2020/4/9

On February 1, 2020, novel coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) was added as a designated infectious disease under the Infectious Diseases Control Law, article 6 in paragraph 8, requiring physicians to immediately report diagnosed novel coronavirus infection cases to the public health center in their jurisdiction. Additionally, active epidemiological investigation became possible, as stipulated in the Infectious Diseases Control Law, article 15.

The primary sources of data in this report were lab-confirmed novel coronavirus infection cases (including asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection cases) reported through both the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases (NESID) system and the active epidemiological investigation program, as of March 23. Cases reported by local public health centers through NESID were linked to cases monitored daily for follow-up by members of the Novel Coronavirus Response Headquarters team at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), via the active epidemiological investigation program. This report provides an update to the previous report for the data as of March 9 (https://www.niid.go.jp/niid/en/2019-ncov-e/2484-idsc/9497-covid19-14-200309-e.html), and is the third update thus far. As data collection is ongoing, the data may be revised or updated accordingly in the future. It should also be noted that there is delayed reporting or cases still in the process of notification for some cases. As such, there may be a difference in the number of cases in this report versus those officially reported by MHLW. It is expected that this difference will be gradually resolved in the future, but caution is required.

Descriptive epidemiology of 287 confirmed cases of new coronavirus infection reported by the national epidemiological surveillance of infectious disease system (NESID) and active epidemiological surveillance (as of March 9, 2020)

Posted date 2020/3/17

On February 1, 2020, new coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) was added as a designated infectious disease under the Infectious Diseases Control Law, article 6 in paragraph 8, which required doctors to immediately report diagnosed COVID-19 cases to the public health center in their jurisdiction. These reported cases were aggregated through the national epidemiological surveillance of infectious diseases (NESID) system. Additionally, active epidemiological investigation could then be conducted, as stipulated in the Infectious Diseases Control Law, article 15.

The primary sources of data in this report were lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases reported through NESID and active epidemiological investigations, as of March 9. Data in NESID were aggregated from reporting by local public health centers. Daily data in active epidemiological investigation by local public health centers were aggregated by teams from the Novel Coronavirus Response Headquarters at the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW). This updated report provides additions to the report published on February 24 (https://www.niid.go.jp/niid/en/2019-ncov-e/2484-idsc/9473-2019-ncov-08-e-2.html). As data collection is ongoing, this report may be revised or updated accordingly in the future. It should also be noted that there are cases in which there may have been delayed reporting or case notification not yet completed. As such, there may be a difference in the number of cases reviewed in this report versus those under active investigation by MHLW. It is expected that this difference will be resolved in the future, but please note that there may be a difference.

Descriptive epidemiology of 112 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) as reported by the national epidemiological surveillance of infectious diseases (NESID) system and active epidemiological investigation (as of February 24, 2020)

On February 1, 2020, the novel coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) was added as a designated infectious disease under the Infectious Diseases Control Law, article 6 in paragraph 8, which requires doctors to immediately report diagnosed COVID-19 cases to the public health center in their jurisdiction. These reported cases are aggregated through the national epidemiological surveillance of infectious diseases (NESID) system. Additionally, active epidemiological investigation can be conducted, as stipulated in the Infectious Diseases Control Law, article 15.

The primary sources of data in this report were lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases notified through NESID and active epidemiological investigations, as of February 24. Data in NESID are aggregated from reporting by local public health centers. Daily data in active epidemiological investigation by local public health centers were aggregated by teams from the Novel Coronavirus Response Headquarters at the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW). As data collection is ongoing, this report may be revised or updated accordingly in the future. It should also be noted that there are cases in which there may be delayed reporting or case notification has not been completed. As such, there may be a difference in the number of cases reviewed in this report versus those under active investigation by MHLW. It is expected that this difference will be resolved in the future, but please note that there may be a difference.

Case of First Human-to-Human Infection of Novel Coronavirus in Japan

The novel coronavirus (hereinafter, SARS-CoV-2) is a new type of coronavirus that has been detected in patients with pneumonia of unknown cause, which has occurred in Wuhan City, Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China since December 2019. On February 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) specified the official name for the novel coronavirus infection as “COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019)” (hereinafter referred to as “COVID-19”). This paper summarizes and reports the results of an active epidemiological surveillance forcases of human-to-human infection of COVID-19 in 3 persons with no travel history to Wuhan for 2 weeks before the onset of the disease, in cooperation with local governments.

Appreciation and Request from National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan

Dear Passenger,

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude for your patience and compliance in participating in the health observation period onboard the Diamond Princess from February 5th to 19th.

We would like to reassure you, based on your negative test results for the novel coronavirus and a successful medical visit confirming that you do not the fever or respiratory symptoms associated with the disease, that it is highly unlikely that you have been infected with the new coronavirus and can return to your normal lifestyle. We recognize that there may be concern for your health from many family and friends, so we would like to offer you the following guidance and requests from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases:

If you feel unwell during the next two weeks, please reach out for a consultation with the two institutes listed below:

• A visitor hotline operated by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO)

• 日本語でのコミュニケーションが可能な方については、以下へのご相談が可能です。

In addition, as you have been carefully monitoring your health for the last two weeks, we would like to encourage you to continue with your usual disease prevention methods. This includes washing your hands often and wearing a mask.

We recognize that the recently disembarked passengers have been in the frontlines in the fight to prevent the invasion of emerging infectious diseases into Japan. We would like to request Japanese citizens for their maximum support in helping disembarked passengers regain their health and normal lifestyles. 

February 21, 2020

National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan

Descriptive Epidemiology of 12 Confirmed 2019-Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Cases in Japan (As of 3 February 2020)

On 3rd January, 2020, a cluster of severe pneumonia cases of unknown etiology or unknown cause in Wuhan City, Hubei Province was reported by China’s Ministry of Health. In response to this emerging infectious disease of unknown cause, Japan updated its disease surveillance system on 6th January, 2020 in order to capture suspected cases of pneumonia related to the outbreak originating in Wuhan City. This was done in accordance to the law: “Prevention of Infectious Diseases and Medical Care for Patients with Infectious Diseases Act”, Article 14, paragraph 1. The cause of severe pneumonia cases originating in Wuhan City, China was identified as novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and became a designated infectious disease in Japan on 1st February, 2020. For a case definition of 2019-nCoV used prior to its addition as a designated infectious disease, please refer to “Response to novel coronavirus-associated pneumonia reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and measures against nosocomial infection (in Japanese) (https://www.niid.go.jp/niid/ja/diseases/ka/corona-virus/2019-ncov.html)”.