「アマビエ」アイコンに　新型コロナ啓発で―厚労省

　新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大を防ごうと、厚生労働省は１３日までに、疫病を払うとされる妖怪「アマビエ」を描いた若者向けの啓発用アイコンをホームページ上で公開した。
　アマビエは、江戸時代に肥後（熊本県）の海から姿を現し、「疫病が流行した際は私の姿を描き、人々に見せよ」と語ったと伝えられる。新型コロナの感染拡大を受け、インターネット交流サイト（ＳＮＳ）上にイラストなどを投稿する人が相次ぎ、話題となっている。
　若年層は感染しても無症状や軽症の場合が多く、同省の担当者は「自覚がないまま感染を広げる危険性が高いことを知ってもらい、拡大を予防してほしい」と話している。（2020/04/13-14:28）

Japan's health ministry has started using an illustration of "amabie," a kind of yokai, or ghost, which is believed to have the power to ward off pestilence, to call on young people for cooperation in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
   An awareness flyer with the illustration of amabie urging people to "stop the spread of the virus" has been posted on the ministry's website.
   According to a legend, the mermaid-like yokai emerged from the sea off the Higo domain, now Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, in Japan's Edo period and told locals that they should draw a picture of it and show this to others in the event of a plague.
   Many people have posted on social media their drawings of amabie, following the coronavirus outbreak.
   Young people tend to show little or no symptoms even if they get the virus. "We hope young people will realize that they have high chances of spreading the virus unconsciously," a ministry official said, calling on them to take necessary steps to prevent a further spread of the virus.