UNIFA CORPORATION (HEAD OFFICE: CHIYODA-KU, TOKYO; CEO: YASUYUKI TOKI; HEREAFTER "UNIFA") ANNOUNCED ON FRIDAY, APRIL 10, "EMERGENCY SUPPORT: DELIVERING WASHABLE MASKS TO 2,000 CHILDCARE FACILITIES IN JAPAN PROJECT" ON FRIDAY, APRIL 10, IN RESPONSE TO THE FACT THAT THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS FROM CHILD-CARE FACILITIES GREATLY EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS AND THE CONTINUED SPREAD OF THE NEW CORONAVIRUS, UNIFA ANNOUNCED THE "EMERGENCY EXPANSION TO 8,000 FACILITIES! IN RESPONSE TO THE LARGE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS FROM CHILDCARE FACILITIES AND THE CONTINUED SPREAD OF THE NEW CORONAVIRUS, WE HAVE CHANGED THE NAME OF THE PROJECT TO "URGENT EXPANSION TO 8,000 FACILITIES! GIFU (AS OF APRIL 29, 2020)), THE NUMBER OF CARDS PROVIDED WILL BE INCREASED FROM 40,000 TO 100,000, AND THE TARGET NUMBER OF FACILITIES WILL BE INCREASED FROM 2,000 TO 8,000.
With childcare facilities nationwide still in operation after the declaration of a state of emergency by the Japanese Government on 7 April, and with a shortage of masks in childcare facilities, Unifa has been working since 10 April to reduce the burden on childcare staff at childcare facilities, which are prone to three-way congestion. Since April 10, Unifa has been promoting the "Emergency Support: Project to Deliver Washable Masks to Childcare Workers at 2,000 Facilities in Japan" (hereinafter referred to as the "Mask Project") as an initiative to distribute masks to childcare facilities free of charge using crowdfunding. According to a Unifa survey, approximately 87% of childcare facilities in the 10 prefectures targeted by the Mask Project are still in operation after the state of emergency was declared.
In this context, the high demand for free masks became clear once again, as the number of applications from nursery schools and other childcare facilities greatly exceeded the 2,000 facilities that had been the number of free masks distributed at an early stage, and in addition, the declaration of a state of emergency was extended nationwide on 17 April, and 13 prefectures were set as specific alert prefectures In response to this, it has been decided at short notice to expand the area covered by the free distribution of masks from the previous 10 prefectures to 13 prefectures, all of which are under specific alert, to increase the number of masks provided free of charge from 40,000 to 100,000 and to increase the number of facilities covered from 2,000 to 8,000, four times the number of facilities covered so far. The project was also named the 'Mask Project'. As a result, the name of the mask project was also changed to "Urgent expansion to 8,000 facilities! Project to Deliver Washable Masks to Childcare Providers". In the event that the crowdfunding does not reach the target amount, UNIFA will cover the necessary costs to ensure free distribution to all 8,000 facilities.
