Changes in Numbers of COVID-19 Cases among Residents of Tourist Resort Areas before and during the "Go To Travel" Campaign: Descriptive Epidemiology in Gunma Prefecture.

ABSTRACT

The "Go To Travel" campaign in Japan, which encouraged people to travel throughout the country, was implemented in July 2020 to revitalize economic activity that was sluggish due to COVID-19. Although the risk of the spread of infection has been reported for tourists crossing prefectural borders, the spread of infection among residents living in tourist areas is unclear. The present study evaluated the number of COVID-19 cases among residents of tourist resort areas in Gunma Prefecture using a descriptive epidemiological method. Data regarding infected individuals were obtained from public data available on the prefecture's official homepage. Evaluation of epidemic curves showed that the number of cases increased slightly after the start of the campaign, with numbers affected by the occurrence of clusters. Toward the end of 2020, the number of cases increased in both resort and non-resort areas, although the increase was smaller in resort areas. Thus, the increased transmission of cases during the campaign suggested a need to take additional preventive measures, more-so for tourists than for resort area residents.