More from the Yomiuri:

At a press conference Saturday afternoon, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said, “While we were trying to prevent the new flu from coming into Japan with tight quarantine measures at airports, the domestic system to cope with the flu also has been well established.”

He said the government intends to raise its action plan level from the first stage (overseas occurrence period) to the second stage (early stage of domestic occurrence).

“We’ll deal with the situation flexibly, and consider whether to close schools and take other steps in consultation with local governments,” he said.

The Kobe municipal government decided Saturday to close 99 municipal schools, including kindergartens, primary schools, middle schools and high schools in three districts of eastern Kobe for seven days until Friday.