COVID-19 has had a significant impact on socioeconomic activity, and continues to show no signs of abating in Japan, and across the globe. Infection from COVID-19 is typically marked by a broad range of symptoms, including fever, difficulty breathing, vomiting, and diarrhea. Measures to combat infection have become routine at offices and schools, and close coordination with public health centers is required when infections are found. An understanding of the Act on the Prevention of Infectious Diseases and Medical Care for Patients with Infectious Diseases, and other related laws and regulations is also required. This paper introduces actual measures implemented by the author in Kochi Prefecture while focusing on “legal frameworks” from the perspective of public health administration.

Analyzing changes in traffic accidents nationwide for the roughly three years from January 2018 to November 2020 using existing statistical data, the number of accidents, the number of injuries, and the number of deaths all decreased over the years. After the emergence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the number of traffic accidents and the number of injuries decreased significantly during the state of emergency. However, no significant decrease in the number of road fatalities was observed during the state of emergency. Thus, it was considered that restricting the movement of people to prevent the spread of infectious diseases reduces the number of traffic accidents and the number of injuries, but does not lead to the suppression of fatal traffic accidents.

The nationwide spread of COVID-19 in Japan has caused many problems in society, the economy, and education, as well as in the securing of medical care provision systems. This paper discusses the law’s involvement with the infectious disease. This paper refers to the current responses concerning legally based movement restriction measures based on the constitution, administrative law, etc., as well as surrounding issues. This paper also studies prejudice and discrimination toward patients and their families from a legal viewpoint, considering the lessons from the leprosy policies of the past.

It is an important role of medicine to analyze people who have died from COVID-19, and to help maintain the health of posterity and improve and prevent diseases. Prompt publication of cause of death statistics based on accurate diagnoses of causes of death is the basis for health policy and medical research pertaining to infectious diseases. The spread of COVID-19 has changed the way people behave, and the number of deaths due to external factors related to human behavior, such as traffic accidents, is changing. There is concern that accidents and violence at home, and accidents associated with drinking and taking drugs will increase in the context of people staying home and teleworking; thus, it is desirable to develop remote ways of handling such cases using information and communication technology. By accumulating knowledge gained under the spread of infectious diseases, it is possible to prepare for everyday accidents and new disasters that may occur in the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic has become an unprecedented crisis for public transport. Since the spring of 2020, when coronavirus infections surged, demand for public transport has plummeted, with that for intracity transport falling by half at its nadir and that for intercity transport―such as Shinkansen trains, airplanes, and highway express buses―plunging by nearly 90% at its lowest point. The lost demand has not recovered, and public transport operators continue to face a critical management situation amid the effects of the pandemic’s second and third waves. In this paper, I will examine these effects on the public transport business as well as on the movement of people from various perspectives. I will also discuss ways forward in reviving public transport in the post-pandemic world.

In conjunction with the spread of COVID-19, crowded trains have been cited as locations in which there are concerns regarding infection of the disease. Prior to this article, the author visualized the behavior of an invisible virus by using computational fluid dynamics to carry out a simulation of infection on a crowded train. Since February 2020, when COVID-19 began to spread, the results of this simulation have been covered in various forms of media, such as television, newspapers, and magazines, but due to insufficient explanations resulting from limitations in, e.g., broadcast time and/or articles, such coverage led to significant audience misunderstanding. This article offers accurate information regarding the simulation which has been featured in media to this point, and describes the risk of infection on a crowded train as considered by the author. The author concludes that on trains in Japan, where the majority of passengers wear masks, the likelihood of clusters occurring will continue to be low, similar to the situation up to this point.

Through the once-in-a-century mobility revolution, the concept of mobility has changed from just the physical displacement of people and things to a huge network system that also includes the invisible exchange of information and energy. As changes occur in the surrounding demographics and environment, the mobility revolution has accelerated due to COVID-19. In this paper, we outline the impact of COVID-19 on mobility and discuss the direction of the mobility revolution, taking into consideration the mobility revolution as a whole and the social situation surrounding Japan.

This paper first introduces the initial policy recommendations established by the World Conference of Transport Research Society’s WCTRS COVID-19 Task Force in light of analysis linking the spread of COVID-19 infection to travel. Next, the paper breaks down the mechanisms of infection into three stages – movement, places of activity, and self-defense – based on the “Mosquito hypothesis”, and discusses the need for measures and policies tailored to each stage. The paper also introduces the “PASS approach” to formulating pandemic measures and policies, and systematically organizes and proposes recommended actions and policies to be implemented by each stakeholder. Lastly, the paper stresses the need for urgent cross-sectional pandemic measures and policies, including those in the transport sector, based on scientific evidence.