The new coronavirus is sucking the economic life out of this nation.

Some local governments, mainly in urban areas, saw applications for livelihood protection benefits surge in March from the previous month.

As many prefectures and municipalities are receiving a growing wave of inquiries and requests for advice about the social security program, there is no doubt that more and more people will seek the benefits in the coming months.

To help allay people’s anxiety about the uncertainty of their economic futures, it is vital to ensure that the social safety net will work in a quick and effective manner.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry issued official notices to local governments across the nation in both March and April urging them to provide proper protection and support for people who have fallen on hard times because of COVID-19.

What is notable about the notices is that the ministry criticizes the practice of rejecting applications for benefits simply because the documents are not in order. The ministry has repeatedly warned local governments to avoid any act that violates or can be seen as violating the needy applicant’s legal right to request welfare.

This warning represents a radical shift in the government’s stance toward the program from the era when it was customary for local government employees to use all kinds of rejection tactics for the benefits to limit the number of people on welfare.

The ministry’s notices also require easing the conditions for eligibility so that even people with assets such as cars and shops can receive the money. The documents also include the requirement that people be allowed to make phone applications for the program to help them pay their hospital bills.

The ministry’s notices reflect a sense of urgency about the current dire situation, which clearly requires the government to put the highest policy priority on helping people in financial straits so that they can rebuild their shattered livelihoods when times get better.

Local government officials involved directly in dealing with such people should carry out their tasks with a fresh commitment that is in line with the ministry’s instructions.

There are reasons to worry about how cases of people who need help are actually handled given some recent episodes that indicate ethical lapses and low morale among some local officials.

In January, for instance, Aichi prefectural officials in charge of livelihood protection cases left a man in his 70s in a park in Nagoya in the middle of the night as they had difficulty dealing with the case.

The prefectural government recognized that the three officials lacked the awareness of the responsibilities the job entails and took disciplinary actions against them. The local government also promised to improve the training program for its employees and secure facilities to protect needy people.

This episode appears to suggest that the old mindset that once prevailed in this nation’s welfare scene is still alive. In the old days, a practice called “okurikomi” was widely used to drive people applying for livelihood protection out of the jurisdiction by handing them just enough money to cover travel expenses to leave the area.

It is granted that many local officials in charge of welfare cases are busy dealing with cumbersome paperwork and other tasks involved.

However, distressing stories about abusive behavior toward needy people should be seen as a sign of the illness of a society that is obsessed by the principle of “self-responsibility” and tends to denounce people on welfare for being “lazy and dishonest” and refusing to accept “what they deserve.”

Some politicians and celebrities have helped promote this trend by acting as standard-bearers for this credo, thereby contributing to a confrontation within society.

With the nation ravaged by the outbreak, what is crucial for the well-being of the people is solidarity and cooperation.

While an infectious disease poses a threat to all people, history and what has occurred overseas indicate that destitute people are more likely to fail to take preventive measures and become victims while causing delays in bringing the outbreak under control.

It is now urgently needed to rebuild the social safety net so that nobody will slip through it. The current crisis is testing the moral fabric of our society.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 27