On Feb. 13, the Ministry of Defense (MOD) announced it will call up a maximum of 50 Self-Defense Forces reservists who are qualified doctors and nurses to combat the outbreak of the new pneumonia. Minister of Defense Taro Kono issued a “disaster dispatch order” that same day.

The MOD is currently deploying a total of nine doctors and nurses to three facilities that are temporarily housing people who have returned from China on government-chartered planes to check their medical condition and provide medical guidance.