As Japan marks five years on Wednesday since its first confirmed case of COVID-19, government data show that over 70 million people in the country are estimated to have contracted the virus as of March last year, while total deaths stood at 130,000 as of last August.
While yearly deaths have declined since peaking during the Omicron variant surge in 2022, fatalities remain significantly higher than for influenza, with the virus continuing to spread seasonally in summer and winter.
Yuki Furuse, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Tokyo, noted that while it was expected that the majority of Japan's population would get infected at some point, "the rapid development of effective vaccines, combined with other countermeasures, helped reduce the severity of outbreaks."
"COVID-19 will continue to place a burden on society. Efforts to reduce that burden, including the establishment of systems for basic infection control, must continue," he added.
Blood tests conducted by the health ministry in March last year in 22 of Japan's 47 prefectures found that 60.7 percent of people possessed antibodies indicating prior coronavirus infection. Extrapolating to Japan's population of some 120 million suggests that at least 73 million people have had COVID-19 at least once.
Based on population statistics, the total number of COVID-related deaths between 2020 and August 2024, including provisional figures, stood at around 132,000, compared to around 3,600 deaths from influenza over the same period.
Following the downgrade of COVID-19 to the same category as seasonal influenza in May 2023, the government stopped releasing the daily tally of all new cases, with figures reported only from 5,000 designated medical institutions.
In line with the downgrade, the government phased out subsidies for drugs to treat COVID-19. As a result, many people are believed to be reluctant to see a doctor even in cases of suspected infection, making it more difficult to accurately assess the spread of the virus.
While Japan's COVID-19 death toll remains lower than that of many other developed nations, the pandemic's impact has been wide-ranging, contributing to declining birth rates and increased suicides.
Strict restrictions on visitations remain in place at some hospitals and care facilities, as easing restrictions on societal activities have led to a resurgence of viral and bacterial infections like influenza and mycoplasma pneumonia.
To apply the lessons learned during the coronavirus pandemic, a new organization modeled after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be established from April to advise the government on future major outbreaks of infectious diseases.
© KYODO
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Jay
Countries which had lower vaccination rates compared to highly vaccinated nations reported LOWER deaths per capita than places like the U.S. or the U.K., despite having a denser population and fewer resources. Sweden, which AVOIDED draconian lockdowns, fared better economically and socially while maintaining comparable or better COVID outcomes than many “vaccine-heavy” countries.
Meanwhile, other heavily vaccinated nations like Israel saw repeated waves of infection, proving that vaccines didn't stop transmission as initially promised.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Yes, the global south countries were not as heavily impacted by Covid.
Fighto!
Politicians and (some) people in the US and UK were frequently flippant and reckless about the virus - especially in the early stages before the vaccines. Hence the death tolls. Mass gatherings were allowed, politicians shook hands with people and told them it was "just a bad cold" -and subsequently the virus and death toll soared.
Others - like Sweden, as well as some in Asia and Oceania - generally followed the medical advice, practiced safe distancing and sensible hygiene, and achieved lower deaths. Not rocket science.
Hercolobus
Sounds like influenza to me.
Fighto!
Five years later...and you still don't know the difference.
Hint : It may help to read this fact -
The_Beagle
Rebranded flu. All the plastic that "my bag" saved went into making masks. Billions of tons of extra plastic waste per year now.
OssanAmerica
謝謝 China. So glad to see you're cooperating with the world to ensure this doesn't happen again.
Dr Tyrell
Or as we like to call in American, the flu.
Burgerland
All the plastic that "my bag" saved went into making masks."
And who can forget the Abenomics mask pork style windfalls.
Jay
All decent points, now back to Japan. Seventy million COVID cases, 130,000 deaths (with Covid, not necessarily of Covid) over five years - let's do the maths: that's a survival rate of over 99.8%. So how and why did the off-shore Pharmaceutical conglomerates and international "health" organizations convince us this was a doomsday scenario, justifying lockdowns, largely untested vaccinations, small business closures, and the destruction of mental health and physical health?
I'll tell you why: because this wasn't about saving lives; it was about consolidating power and lining pockets.
Alongfortheride
Global South? If you are referring to Australia and New Zealand you are very wrong! NZ's lockdowns destroyed their economy when it was in control by a PM who had no idea what she was doing.
Japantime
I have never had it. As long as you wash your hands and wear a mask during the pandemic you wouldn’t catch it. Now it is over and we can get back to living a healthy life. But still practice good hygiene.
Alongfortheride
Here you go, "Global South" was exactly the same as most other countries.
https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/new-zealand
iraira
Starting in 25-40 years, it will be interesting to see if cases of senile dementia increase among the non-vaccinated/recovered from Covid population relative to those who were vaccinated given that spike protein accumulation (for up to 4 years post-infection) in the brain is higher among non-vaccinated folks than vaccinated folks.
Rong, et al., "Persistence of spike protein at the skull-meninges-brain axis may contribute to the neurological sequelae of COVID-19" Cell Host Microbe. 2024 Dec 11;32(12):2112-2130.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2024.11.007. Epub 2024 Nov 29.
Geeter Mckluskie
How many with Covid as opposed to of Covid?
Bad Haircut
This is nonsense. Even with all that mask wearing and jabbing, the virus still spread like wildfire around Japan. However, it's possible that broader exposure to SARS back in the early 2000s provided some latent immunity here, hence the lower death rate even with lots of people catching the virus.
Also, Japan didn't ban the effective treatments that the pharmaceutical companies lobbied their political vassals to outlaw, helping to alleviate the situation. Moreover, was far less draconian than most Western countries regarding lockdowns and jab mandates, making it a better place to be during the dark years. Great for visiting places like Kyoto and hitting the ski slopes with hardly anyone else there.
Harry_Gatto
Most people are clueless when it comes to mask wearing and handling. So many masks are so ill-fitting that all the air breathed in comes around the side and not through the mask; masks are removed with bare hands touching the outside which has allegedly stopped all the nasty stuff from passing through and being breathed in; masks are stuffed in pockets or handbags (purses) after removal with no thought about what happens to the stuff caught on the outside of the mask; masks are refitted to the face with bare hands touching the outside surface etc. etc. All of this renders a large proportion of mask wearing a useless waste of time.
Ask a trained nurse about mask hygiene.
wallace
My wife and U are not part of the 70 million covid cases.
dan
COVID related deaths they say ...
They mean that they attributed the death to COVID.
I won't be masking up again or disenabling my life for their political and financial gain ever !!
Abe no mask is a perfect example of politicians milking the system.
In the UK billions of pounds were squandered on PPE and contracts dished out to politician's friends all the while Boris and co were having champagne parties and NOT doing any of the things they demanded of the general population ( social distancing nonsense etc ) .
It's all a big con don't be duped .
virusrex
Which have been explained repeatedly by lack of reports, African countries for example have had a huge excess of deaths during the pandemic, but stopped counting many of those deaths as covid related, this is a well described lie from antiscientific propaganda groups.
Yes they have been.
But for the medical experts both diseases are easily differentiated. There is no chance patients of one are being counted as if they had the other.
This is another disproved lie from antiscientific propaganda groups, of course they never offer any evidence of this, since test are routinely able to differentiate between both there is no merit on this claim.
The worst case scenarios obviously depended on not doing anything, which Japan avoided precisely by enacting measures that prevented this and allowed actual protection of the population (if not perfectly), this is like complaining about the need to wear safety helmets in constructions sites because deaths are now much less frequent on those sites that require them.
The pandemic is not over, governments are very interested in pretending it is, but it still is causing unnecessary deaths around the globe.
No expert promised vaccines would "stop" transmission, but they vaccines actually reduce it, demonstrated scientifically. You have provided no evidence to refute this fact.
Still the fake argument? when covid is an important cause of the death it makes all the sense of the world to count it, even if the "main" cause is another. This "argument" would magically solve malnutrition since almost every victim that dies do so "with" malnutrition but "of" things like infections, temperature disregulation, circulatory complications, etc.
Just not as much, and not as seriously thanks to the measures, rational people can understand that thigs can be beneficial and useful even if not 100% effective every time forever. That position is usually the excuse people with deep antiscientific bias try to use when it has been proved something they don't like actually prevented millions of deaths.
There are no such things, unethical people tried to promote false treatments for personal profit and caused a lot of unnecessary deaths, fortunately this never got traction in Japan, so not so many people died unnecessarily for using drugs that offered no benefit against covid, only extra risks.
virusrex
One of the many benefits of the measures (like vaccines and masks) is that people are more likely to avoid infection or have asymptomatic infections because of the low viral load of he exposure and the immunity present. Protected people can even be infected without ever developing the disease, so they don't become a covid case.
Which is precisely what this means also for every other disease, if someone have a chronic disease that could have been controlled for decades but it gets complicated because of another (like an infection) there is no point in ignoring the complication and pretend it had nothing to do with the death. There are many mechanisms proved for covid to cause death, with or without comorbidities, so it is perfectly valid to attribute the death to covid when these mechanisms are present.
It is the opposite, companies and governments are extremely interested in pretending there is no covid anymore so they can use the people to profit as usual, when it is no longer a disease that requires special care they don't have to spend political funds to ask people to isolate, nor to give free holidays for workers to recover in their houses.
The actual benefit from the measures were always first for the people that avoided the infection, and secondarily for those around them and the health care services that had an easier time without being swamped with cases.
The con is trying to convince people there is nothing to worry about, so they should keep working and partying as usual without making any trouble.
Geeter Mckluskie
How many people in Japan have been injured by the vaccines?
When it comes to vaccine injuries we're often told "collocation does not mean causation."
However, when it comes to Covid deaths we are told "attributed to Covid". How many of those "attributed to Covid" were the result of one or more co-morbidities?
Sanjinosebleed
Vaccines were rushed ineffective and downright dangerous as the multiple deaths and significant long term injuries attest!
By the time they were released the virus had already mutated to eke them next to useless.
meanwhile pharmaceutical giants made billions and were never held to account.
There have been many lawsuits brought against them by state govts in the US alone since
virusrex
I don't know, you are the one that claims this number is important when compared with the benefits from the vaccine, but refuse to support this claim with any number. Are you recognizing you have no basis to insist the professionals are wrong when they say vaccines have been a huge medical success, including for covid?
No, that would be correlation does not mean causation. Which is true.
Terribly basic thing to know. If you have one million vaccinated people and one million unvaccinated people and both have the same number of cases of a complication then it becomes obvious the vaccine is not the cause, even if the complication happened after the vaccine.
If on the other hand you have one million diabetics of which 500 die in one year, and have one million diabetics with covid of which 5000 die in one year it becomes clear covid has a role on those deaths.
It makes no sense to think professionals in public health that do this for a living could get confused by such basic concepts.
Jay
No sorry, that's simply your disproven apologist script: dismiss any treatment not stamped with a Pfizer logo as 'false' while ignoring the effectiveness of therapeutics such as Ivermectin in treating Covid. You know, the Nobel Prize-winning work of Dr. Satoshi Ōmura, the co-developer of this drug with DECADES of proven efficacy and safety?
The real tragedy here isn't "unethical people promoting false treatments" - it was the global suppression of effective, affordable options in favor of experimental jabs with dubious efficacy, all to line corporate pockets.
Luckily, Japan's lower death toll had far more to do with healthier lifestyles and early intervention strategies than any blind faith in pharmaceutical overlords. But unfortunately, you seem to mistakenly think the only "ethical" path was the one paved with booster profits and censorship of real science.
virusrex
No, those are repeatedly debunked lies from antivaxxer groups, not rushed, not ineffective, much less dangerous, without any long term injuries in significant numbers. The medical community of the world instead recognize the vaccines as a huge success that saved millions of lives during the pandemic.
And no, variants did not make the vaccine useless, reduced the efficacy but they still protected people even without taking into account the improved versions released later.
The current scientific evidence have proved things like HCQ and ivermecting were useless against covid, and nobody have been able to refute this with any evidence, specially not Omura that provided zero evidence of his belief.
There is no institution of medicine in the world that disagrees with these drugs being worthless against covid, it would be irrational, impossible to believe, that every hospital, every medical school, every journal of medical science, in every country, is in some global conspiracy to lie to people about this.
And specially because the population isolated, vaccinated and listened to the experts instead of the measures becoming a political issue as in countries like the US. People masked, took their distance, stayed home when sick, quickly went to their doctors and listened to what was recommended for them.
Jimizo
All you need to know can be found from alternative media podcast watchers.
From vaccines to foreign policy to climate change to woke movies, they’ve got you covered.
Watch out for the elites, the WEF and big something or other forcing an insect diet on us.
So, don’t be a skinny-fat cuck or a soy boy and get jacked while following a carnivore diet and wake up.
Watch out for the globalists and their puppets, stop crying liberal tears, remember doctors are not trained in nutrition and remember that few women work on oil rigs.
Zaphod
virusrex
I find it so re-assuring that you communicate with the entire "medical community of the world". Would that community include doctors like McCullough, Jay Bhattacharya, Suchirad Bakdhi, Prof. Masanori Fukushima, Dr. Drew, Dr. Harvey Risch, Prof. Tim Spector, Michael Yeadon, Prof. Ian Brighthope, Dr. Pierre Kory, or for that matter the 940,000 signers of the Great Barrington Declaration?
Just curious. Please confirm.
Geeter Mckluskie
Yes, it's extremely important to me as my perfectly healthy 18 year old son was injured immediately after receiving his 2nd Pfizer shot. 2 years later he still has problems holding a pen for more than 30 seconds as his hand trembles uncontrollably.
I'm asking for the number...which can't be found anywhere.
Do you have a number? You seem to be the expert on vaccines here. What's the number of vaccine injured?
Geeter Mckluskie
Did it? Schools were fully operational. Our school has 1500 students, 90% of whom commute to school on pubic transit. There were no lockdowns, only advisory measures about closing at 8pm. While many worked from home, many more went to work as usual...on crowded trains.
Zaphod
Jimizo
I know I know! All you need to All you need to know can be found in the slick legacy media programs.
From vaccines to foreign policy to climate change to woke movies, they’ve got you covered. And never try to look outside the bubble, that would just confuse you
Geeter Mckluskie
True of how many regarding vaccine injuries. True of how many regarding "Covid deaths"?
Lionel Lyyn
@Geeter The risks of getting a serious side effect of the vaccine (serious doesn't mean death) is 1 per 1.4million dose and most of the time you can cure it easily.
I find it mind blowing that all the case of vaccines injuries appears in antivax population which is weird because they are antivax...
Zaphod
virusrex
It does not seem you were in Japan during that time. Seriously, what are you talking about?
Nobody was locked in their house, the Yamanote line was as crowded as ever, shops were open, people were free to get fresh air and sunshine, restaurants were open until 8 (a rule everyone is still laughing about; as if the virus sleeps and then wakes up at 8), and while bars were encouraged to close, plenty of them were running, you just had to knock on the door. There was no vaxxing mandate, only invitations and some pressure from private companies. Plenty of people I know here refused it and are glad they did.
You are right on the mask issue, but Japan always had this surgical mask fetish, already way before Covid.
Jay
Really sorry to hear about your son's experience - no parent should have to watch their child suffer, especially from something they were told was "100% safe and effective" and supposed to protect them.
I've seen this firsthand as well. A neighbor of mine, a fit and active bloke in his 40s, developed severe heart issues shortly after his second dose. He's now on medication for life. My father-in-law, who was healthy and athletic, started experiencing chronic joint pain and fatigue immediately after his booster, and he's still struggling to regain his energy. Another close friend also developed debilitating heart issues, which doctors hesitated to attribute to the vaccine, but the timing was undeniable.
What's INFURIATING is how often your experiences and mine are dismissed and/or swept under the rug. Your son's story, like so many others, deserves to be heard and taken seriously. Thank you for sharing - it’s a painful but necessary reminder of the real risks involved.
Geeter Mckluskie
This from The European Medicines Agency (EMA)
Geeter Mckluskie
We've seen several specialists and have been told there's nothing we can do.
Where did you get the 1 per 1.4 million doses number?
Give me data from Japan. What is the number of vaccine injured in Japan?
The number, not so 1 per 1.4 million claim that can't be verified...the number of those injured in Japan.
When I have the number, I'll do my own "per" calculation...thanks
Zaphod
Geeter Mckluskie
Have not checked the statistics and anyway they can be misleading as there are gimmicks like counting the first 2 weeks after the injection as "unvaccinated".
But if you are in Tokyo and curious, I can introduce you to some friends who enjoyed vaccine "side effects". You get an earful, for sure.
Jay
Let's unpack your logic: you're trying to insult "free-thinkers" (those without a subscription to *The Guardian*) by comparing them to sheep, yet you're the one parroting tired cliches like a broken record at a woke seminar. Hilarious!
The difference is, normal, rational people actually question narratives, analyze data, and form opinions based on evidence - not spoon-fed propaganda.
Same podcasts? I'd say we just happen to arrive at similar conclusions because reality tends to have that effect. Meanwhile, you're over there baa-ing along with the mainstream choir, mistaking conformity for enlightenment.
Keep grazing.
virusrex
If this was false it would be trivially easy for you to bring proof of a number of institutions contradicting anything on my comments. Yet you never bring any, this proves more than anything I could say that the consensus on the value of measures (including vaccines). Still zero institutions you can bring to contradict anything.
Fortunately not, because you bring only disgraced people (including the cardiologist with the highest number of retractions in history!) so if unethical, unprofessional people that have repeatedly found to be lying disagree with the actual medical community helps giving the consensus even more support. And anybody that has to use the bottom of the barrel makes evident there is nobody with actual reputation supporting those mistaken claims. I mean, can you guess how many of the people you mentioned said in summer 2020 that the world already achieved herd immunity and cases would suddently drop out of any significance? (every author of the barrington delcaration did).
Yet you can't mention any number. If for example someone came to say (without any proof) that antibiotics killed a member of his family, would you accept this as an argument that proves antibiotics should be banned and that they are just a con that damage more people than what they supposedly help? Because that is what you are trying to do here.
Yet you blindly assume it is important enough to use as an argument, even if you can't find it anywhere.
Once again, rational people can understand that things can be done (and be useful) without they being only 100% or else 0%, isolation can be done without it being absolute and it would still be useful (again even if not absolutely so).
Nor masks mandates, for the same reason. People had enough common sense to do things without being forced to do it.
As long as they don't contradict the available scientific literature, when something is just repeating the scientific and medical consensus it is the actual valid authority that supports the claims, if you don't know if any media is scientifically correct you can always put the time and effort necessary to evaluate the primary sources and see for yourself what the consensus is.
Again, it is unbelievable to pretend professionals that do this kind of epidemiological analysis as a living for decades didn't think of this kind of very basic detail just because you believe the opposite of what they say. Unless you can bring evidence to actually refute what the experts say then their evidence is the only one that can be considered. That vaccine related injuries (as corroborated, not just things that happened after vaccines) are so rare that they are not an important argument in the conversation says a lot.
Lionel Lyyn
@Geeter on the number you mention from EMA, they all self report. Which means those number are not accurate at all. Someone dying of natural cause after getting shot would be reported as a vaccine injurie even if the link is not proven. Also after billions of doses, there is enough evidence that the covid vaccine was safe (compared to other vaccine it was even safer). The risk is not 0, but you are more at risk of dying of COVID unvaccinated by atleast a hundred fold. It's just statistics.
Burgerland
"I find it mind blowing that all the case of vaccines injuries appears in antivax population which is weird because they are antivax..."
Didn't Geeter just say above that his son was injured after a second dose of Pfizer? If the boy took a vaccine how exactly was he antivax? Now, that one is mind blowing.
virusrex
So you think there was nothing out of the ordinary in Japan during 2020 and 2021? even going on articles in English it is obvious measures were strongly put in order in Japan, with the full cooperation of the population.
Which still completely contradicts your misrepresentation, that the population had a much easier time following the recommendations supports the argument that the measures helped against covid.
So, where is the comparison with the rates with unvaccinated people? you understand this is what you need for your argument to hold any weight, right? If 10,000 people got married after vaccination, do this mean to you that the vaccines promotes marriage? I already explained why is wrong to assume causality just because something happens after another thing, why go back to the flawed argument again?
No gimmick, that is just another lie from antivaxxer groups. Things are reported after vaccination even if they happen during the vaccination process (for example allergic reaction or fainting) the "2 weeks period" is about the state of immunity. They are two completely different things.
Irrational people form an opinion first and the fish for any evidence that appears to support that evidence, even if that requires believing impossible things like a global conspiracy of doctors.
Rational people have no problem believing the actual professionals, specially when the global community of them say the same thing.
Geeter Mckluskie
I wasn't anti-Covid vaccine until my son got injured.
My kids all received their standard childhood vaccines.
So, then...what IS the number?
Well, you've confidently told me the risk is 1 in 1.4million doses. Where did you get that rate and how can we verify its accuracy?
Lionel Lyyn
@Burgerland Anecdotal fallacy ? The number of time I saw antivax on social media claiming they know someone that died from the covid is insanely high. It's not because someone said something that it is true. Someone telling a story on the internet is the least reliable proof. Instead of reading some people telling their personal experience (reliability close to 0) you can just read the science literacy with hundred of meta analysis on the subject (reliability of a meta analysis is the highest possible in science)
Burgerland
"The number of time I saw antivax on social media claiming they know someone that died from the covid is insanely high. "
Indeed, a lot of people died or suffered side effects. Yes, many of those who saw that happen to them or someone close to them turned anti corona vax. I saw it myself and I was pro shot until that time. It doesn't matter one bit whether you believe it or not. Anecdotal evidence is a fact not fallacy.
It's not because someone said something that it is true.
Like that those vaccines being safe? Agreed.
Jimizo
It’s sad but unfortunately social media is full of spammers and sock puppet accounts. I can remember atrocious sock puppet accounts on here talking about people dropping like flies after walking out of vaccination centres. Transparent trash.
Sadly, this means any claims from personal experience have to be filed under questionable even if actually genuine.
They drag it down to their level - particularly on issues like this.
Sad.
Geeter Mckluskie
Please point us to the number of injured in the "meta analysis" so that we can verify your 1 in 1.4 million claim.
1 is a number. From whence did it come? What is the number of vaccine injured in Japan. What is the number on which the "meta analysis" is based?
the NUMBER
Norm
No one that I know.
So, how many were injured by the vaccine over the period 2020 to 2025?
The_Beagle
Fact check on virusrex. Claim:
https://x.com/MrGamatos/status/1581980357595107328
Geeter Mckluskie
PS.
If you don't know the number, you can't know the rate. If you claim that no injury or death can be definitively said to have been caused by Covid vaccines than how could you cite the rate? If you can say that there is causation vis a vis Covid vaccines then what is the number of those difinitive cases? It's a simple question that always gets dismissed with..."well the scientific literature says...blah blah blah". Says what? Without the number there is no rate, so how in the world can you cite 1 in 1.4 as being the scientific concensus as being the rate?
itsonlyrocknroll
The people of Japan were much more naturally aware of dangers during the pandemic, disciplined in safe distancing measures, a cultural affinity to wearing masks, a selfless patriotic duty to the community.
As a comparison to the J numbers stats published
UK.....Population 68.35 million, Coronavirus Cases: *24,910,387***, Deaths: **232,112 Recovered: 22,954,691
Geeter Mckluskie
1 in 1.4 million...from whence did this rate come?
Geeter Mckluskie
No one knows
The_Beagle
Fact check @virusrex. Exhibit B:
https://x.com/mazemoore/status/1828855586995482994
Geeter Mckluskie
What argument? I've merely asked for the number of those injured by the Covid vaccines which no one seems to be able to give me. I've made no argument.
The_Beagle
Fact check @virusrex. Exhibit C:
https://x.com/mazemoore/status/1791501087813366259
The_Beagle
Fact check @virusrex. Exhibit D:
https://x.com/mazemoore/status/1805400778871357564
The_Beagle
Fact check @virusrex. Exhibit E:
https://x.com/mazemoore/status/1670289026526461952
Jimizo
Getting a bit hysterical again there.
I think we get the point. I think the walls should close in on this one now.
Jay
Completely false, and if you're honest with yourself, your repeated mantras sound more like a coping mechanism than a conclusion. You either lined up for the jab because you were pressured by your job or social circle, or you genuinely believed the corporate PR machine that said it would "end the pandemic." Which one was it Lionel?
Meanwhile, real-world data keeps surfacing about waning efficacy, endless boosters, and side effects conveniently swept under the rug. But hey, if you care about "statistics", go ahead and look closely at the ones that show how natural immunity and alternative treatments have been outperforming your miracle shots.
Geeter Mckluskie
For argument's sake, let's say that I've made up a lie about my son to make a point on the internet.
In order to avoid anecdotes, please tell us the number of vaccine injuries in Japan.
Thanks
>
Jimizo
I think WW2 is your area of scholarly pursuits.
You don’t come across as having read half of the material written in this area.
Jay
Oh, how very liberal/progressive of you Jimmy - calling for the walls to close in on free discussion because someone dared to fact-check your favorite Big Pharma parrot. I suppose when facts and logic aren't on your side, a shriek of "CLOSE THE WALLS!" is all you've got left.
stonebuddha
I'm thankful to have been living in Japan the past 5 years where masking is not political, and I hear stories now from places in the US where I'm from where even doctors and nurses are not masking. The only reason people think Covid is over or nothing to worry about is because people have often survived the acute stages, and government and business leaders want money to keep flowing, and I urge anyone who thinks the same to spend 5 minutes online reading about people's long covid experiences. As per the article, ''60.7 percent of people possessed antibodies'' shows Covid is still in our bodies, it is being compared to AIDS, and there is evidence to suggest that it damages immune systems (perhaps hence the amount of Flu in Japan right now), brains, basically any part of the body. We don't need lockdowns or mandates. Let's clean the air in schools and hospitals, mask in crowded places, stay home when sick.
Jimizo
To be clear, I’m not putting you in that category.
It’s just that the antivax types were/are often spamming these threads with laughably transparent sock puppet accounts - absolutely pathetic. Many were banned but are hard to flush.
It was very clear that these types were both intellectually and morally deficient. Truly appalling.
A pity they trashed it but that’s what they do.
Cosell
Let's clean the air in schools and hospitals, mask in crowded places, stay home when sick.
Knock yourself out pal.