For infection prevention during home care, these practices can be used as a reference
Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare once proposed a set of protection recommendations for families providing home care, including maintaining distance, ventilation, wiping shared areas, and so on. These practices can help us think about what preparations can be made if there are elderly people at home who need care.
Machine translation of our Chinese article, without human translation review. Suggestions concerning China remain specific to China.
Automatically reviewed, without human verification. Programmatic checks are not professional review. Seek professional advice where appropriate. Automatically reviewed on 10/4/2026, 7:14:25 AM
Chinese fact summaries and suggestions for China (not a full translation)
Original: 新型コロナウイルス感染症への対応について（在宅介護家族の皆さまへ） ｜厚生労働省 · Original language: ja
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Facts from the sources
In materials for families providing home care, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare proposed that in order to prevent the spread of infection over the long term, protective practices against droplet transmission, contact transmission, and close conversation should be further incorporated into daily life, and it called this the 'new lifestyle'. View source
According to the material, among people confirmed infected in Japan, about 80% did not transmit the virus to others, but at locations meeting conditions such as enclosed spaces, crowding, and close contact, there have been cases where one infected person transmitted to multiple people. View source
When a family member is suspected of infection and there is no way to use separate rooms at home, the Japanese official recommendation is to keep a distance of at least 2 meters, set up a partition or curtain, and position their heads in opposite directions when sleeping. View source
When a family member is suspected of infection, the Japanese official recommendation is to wipe shared areas such as doorknobs and bed rails with diluted commercially available household chlorine bleach, and then wipe with water. View source
When a family member is suspected of infection, the Japanese official recommendation is to open windows on two sides for several minutes each time to ventilate, and to ensure 2 or more air changes per hour. View source
During the COVID-19 pandemic, for people feeling anxious about providing home care to family members, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare recommends first consulting the nearby 'Community Comprehensive Support Center'. View source
For older people and families
When someone at home is ill, try to have the patient stay in a separate room. If that is not possible, have the two people sleep with their heads in opposite directions.
When conditions permit, maintain a distance of about two meters between the patient and the caregiver. A curtain or partition can be used.
Open windows on two sides and ventilate for a few minutes each time, doing your best to keep the air circulating in the room.
For places that everyone touches, such as doorknobs and bed rails, wipe them with diluted chlorine-containing disinfectant, then wipe again with clean water.
When you feel uneasy, you can first ask the community office responsible for elderly care consultation. You do not need to carry the burden alone.
See what care and community teams can do
For communities and elderly care institutions, the Japanese idea of a 'new lifestyle' can be used as a reference, integrating protection against droplets, contact, and close conversation into daily routines.
When conditions permit, plan temporary separation measures in care spaces, such as curtains and partitions, and arrange beds so that head positions face different directions.
Establish a ventilation system, set clear targets for the number of air changes per hour, and record actual implementation and the effects of weather.
Develop disinfection guidelines for shared surfaces, specify the dilution concentration of disinfectants and the sequence of operations, and require that operators receive training.
Provide caregivers with channels for psychological support and help them connect with locally available consultation resources.
Remind family members and caregivers that home protection must be adjusted according to housing size, the elderly person's physical condition, and other factors, and should not be applied mechanically.
What needs local assessment
The above facts come from public materials of Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, published around 2020, and are not current policies of China. The distances, ventilation frequencies, and disinfection methods mentioned in the text are Japanese official recommendations. Families and institutions in China need to refer to them in light of their own conditions, housing structures, and professional opinions. Please verify disinfectant concentrations and the effects of ventilation on elderly people's body temperature with medical staff or community professionals. The "about 80%" in the statistics was the case data at that time and does not represent the transmission risk for any specific individual. Source: Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (see original link). This website compiled and translated this based on the original facts. It is not a translation produced, approved, or released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; Japanese systems are not equivalent to Chinese systems.
Sources
Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and WelfareWas this article helpful?
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