Guidelines for preventing COVID-19 in acupuncture clinic in Japan (Version 1.1)

1. Practitioners must measure their body temperature every day. If they have fever or cold-like symptoms such as cough or nasal discharge, they will not be allowed to practice.
2. Practitioners should be vaccinated against COVID-19 to ensure patient safety unless there is a specific reason, such as an allergy to the vaccine, etc.
3. Avoid 3Cs (closed spaces, crowded places, and close contact) in the waiting and treatment rooms. Confirm the mobile phone number of patients just in case we need to trace them to reduce the cluster.
4. Ventilate the waiting and treatment rooms. Open the windows and doors in two directions once every 30 minutes and/or use a ventilating fan.
5. Check patients’ body temperature and cold-like symptoms prior to practice and record them in their medical records. If they have fever or any related symptoms, avoid treatment. Disinfect the thermometer applied to the patients with every contact.
6. Both practitioners and patients must wear masks during medical interviews and practice. Surgical or non-woven masks are strongly recommended.
7. When patients are unmasked, such as in facial procedures, conversations should be avoided, and practitioners should wear goggles or a face shield throughout the process.
8. Practitioners must hand hygiene (wash hands using soap or disinfect their hands using an alcohol-based hand rub) before and after practice. Try to wear disposable medical gloves while practicing. In this case, change and discard gloves for each patient—Rewash hands after removing the gloves.
9. Change pre-cleaned towels and linens for each patient, or use disposable ones.
10. Regularly disinfect, at least once daily, environmental surfaces such as door handles, handrails, toilets, etc., which may have been touched. Disinfect pillows, beds, and physical therapy equipment for each patient.
11. Check if first-visit patients have underlying conditions such as chronic heart diseases, chronic pulmonary diseases, diabetes mellitus, etc., and their travel history. In the case of revisiting patients with such chronic diseases, the need for acupuncture treatment should be reviewed and cooperate with their physicians.
12. Follow each guideline when practicing in hospitals or other medical facilities.

12 November 2021 (Version 1.1)
Safety Committee
The Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (JSAM)