Japan Shuts Down a Record of 300 Childcare Centers 

25-01-2022

Malina Wiethaus

Japan and Human Rights Researcher, 

Global Human Rights Defence.

As Omicron spreads without halt, the Japanese government declared a state of quasi emergency in 18 new prefectures, leading to 70% of the country living under quasi-emergency. Japan has recorded 50 000 new cases of Covid19 a day, renewing the record for five days straight (Kyodo News, 2022a).

In light of current developments, the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare confirmed a rapid surge in suspended childcare services. Over 300 day-care centers are currently shut down due to the pandemic. The new record of 327 closed facilities, highly exceeds the previous spike of 185 shutdowns last September (Irfan, 2022). 

The temporary closings severely increase the burden on working parents, as these services are mostly used in families where the caretakers work. Since March 2020, more than 10 000 children and 7 000 workers have been infected by Covid19 in day care facilities, consequently leading to closing (Kyodo News, 2022b). 

As well as that, since Thursday, 63 facilities providing after school care for elementary school students have been shut down for safety reasons. This has an enormous impact not only on the parents who are unable to attend work and hence, provide for their families, but also for the children’s development (Kyodo News, 2022b). 

Sources and further readings: 

Irfan, M. (2022, January 24). Japan shuts over 300 child care centers amid virus spike. UrduPoint. https://www.urdupoint.com/en/miscellaneous/japan-shuts-over-300-child-care-centers-amid-1454773.html 

KYODO NEWS. (2022a, January 22). Japan’s daily COVID cases top 50,000, new record for 5th straight day. https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/01/c1ced975d81e-urgent-tokyos-daily-covid-19-cases-top-10000-for-1st-time-hit-record-high.html 

KYODO NEWS. (2022b, January 24). Record 300 day-care centers in Japan shut due to pandemic. https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/01/0c4588fb7591-record-300-daycare-centers-in-japan-shut-due-to-pandemic.html