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Do you think the Japanese government's call to cancel or curtail big events is an overreaction to the coronavirus outbreak?

18 Comments

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18 Comments
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Definitely necessary, events are difficult to contact trace as shown in the singapore Hyatt cluster.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

So they should be thinking about Olympics quite seriously by now.

All in context of damage to the economy with fear in numbers.

What are we to do instead? Watch more TV and get bombarded with more fears and advertisement thrown in?

Play the Internet so clever computer can decide for you what you should be browsing next?

I will not be able to sit still at home as after a while as I will get bored and will want to go somewhere.... even when I have my stuff and family around me.

Cluster of illegal event might start to happen and could become even more difficult to contain.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Overreaction for sure. It is just a coronavirus. Flu will kill thousands. This will not.

-4 ( +6 / -10 )

Thanks Tom, you obviously work in some advanced medical research center and have all the facts of this new virus.

Govt just pulled the plug on schools from Monday (announced on the news,,,but maybe I missed a nuance of the message.). I hope the Govt will subsidize the BOE/Dispatch companies so they can pay those who are in low paying ALT positions to least pay the rent.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

At this stage, no it's not an over reaction. Efforts must be made to contain the spread. Even if it's late.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Better to over prepare than to be caught with you pants down. A telltale sign is Abe's order to close schools for a month and the discouragement to avoid mass events. Another red flag is the popping up of COVID cases here and there in Japan. Governments will never tell you how bad the situation really is and will try their very best to keep the public from panicking, which is why you have whistle blowers.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Absolutely!!!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Makes sense. The more conspiracy-minded and drama queens are going to be speculating with lots of exclamation marks and block capitals anyway, but they get themselves into a state over a lot of things.

As stated, late but probably the right thing to do.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Its one of several steps to help protect the public. There are other things that can be done and additional steps that can be taken. Seems to me that better planning should have taken place. Single parents..., what do all the school workers do (teachers, cooks, maintenance, etc.), several other obvious areas that will be impacted by this decision. Not a bad decision, just better planning should have taken place.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Yes it’s an overreaction. This will just send Japan’s economy into a major economic depression. As for ALTS as someone above mentioned, a manager at Japan’s biggest dispatch agency I know, told me ALTS will not be paid during the school closure period as they are not working. Very harsh isn’t it? I guess there’s an endless supply of ALT kids so they don’t care at all if people quit.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It's them trying to save face for their inaction or lax measures taken at the beginning of the year.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

It depends. There is a lot of hysteria and misinformation out there (or online) but perhaps it is better to be safe than sorry. It's the elderly who are most at risk, and while that (sadly) doesn't bother a lot of punters, it shouldn't mean the rest should be complacent.

As for the 2020 Games, I really don't know. The last few days has made me more cautious, but then again, the Rio Games went ahead during the zika outbreak, so who can tell?

As always, listen to the experts.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

No, not an overreaction. This was something that could be done, even if it means that this wound will affect many and take time to heal.

I see that districts in Okinawa have decided to set their own different timetables for their schools, regardless of the government guidelines.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It's overreaction. At least a unified, nationwide move is unnecessary. The negative impact on the country's economy is critical yet underestimated. To date Covid-19-led pneumonia are responsible for deaths of only 10 Japanese, all aged 70 or older. Another economic downturns could life-threaten thousands including young and healthy working aged.

Let's see the fact, put things into perspective. Don't ignore the probability; we are living in various risks in varying degrees.

News reporting should also be balanced. Just a few days ago, 981 people (!!) across 39 local schools were found infected with flu in Okayama Pref. Of course schools immediately closed, yet this crucial story has been ignored or under-reported due to "corona-hysteria". Okayama has yet to declare state of emergency.... Note that flu is far more deadly and infectious regardless of age. If the government is to "protect children first" by school shutdown, why not paying more attention to chronic flu endemic?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I don't think it is an overreaction no matter how late or early those decisions are made. However, they sound like that the government reacts excessively. The thing is that most of the decisions are announced suddenly and unpredictably making Japanese citizens confused. This leads lots of people to feel they are overreaction.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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