Aichi governor declares state of emergency after virus spike

So does this mean Aichi and its people are off the "Go To Travel" list like Tokyo, or will people still get paid by the national government to travel around the country to/from there?

"But he said the government will not officially ask for people to exercise self-restraint."

That's all they needed to say. Here's to hoping the number of cases doesn't explode.

This virus is serious and we all need to do all we can to help prevent getting it and spreading it. And the government here has proven itself to be incompetent and confusing in its message and handling of the virus.

But saying all that, I notice the comments section on this site have a lot of "doom & gloom"ers that seem to WANT this to turn worse day by day. Really? I would think we all hope and want this to end as soon as possible. But so many on here just keep saying "just you wait! It's gonna get worse!"

Is it just for a "aha! I told you so!" moment? If so, that's kind of sick.

Why is it the Japanese government is acting like the one across the ocean, and saying one thing, while the reality is that things are worse NOW then back when they declared an emergency?

“But saying all that, I notice the comments section on this site have a lot of "doom & gloom"ers that seem to WANT this to turn worse day by day. Really? I would think we all hope and want this to end as soon as possible. But so many on here just keep saying "just you wait! It's gonna get worse!" 

Is it just for a "aha! I told you so!" moment? If so, that's kind of sick.”

Completely agree

There is no need to 'slow the spread' of the virus because it is ALREADY spreading remarkably slowly. As others have pointed out, an infinitesimally small number of people are getting infected. An even smaller number are dying. In Japan, 80% of covid deaths are in people 70 years old or older. Basically, this means that it is not dangerous for younger people.

The idea at the beginning was to "flatten the curve", not to eliminate the chance of anyone getting infected. This is a virus, it will do what it will do. The best option is to isolate people who are at risk, and the rest get on with life. It makes no sense to lock down 20 year olds who have basically zero chance of any serious health risk from covid.

@Hubert

 I notice the comments section on this site have a lot of "doom & gloom"ers that seem to WANT this to turn worse day by day.

But so many on here just keep saying "just you wait! It's gonna get worse!"

I 100 agree!

90% of the Posters here are ultraparanoid and wish and hope everyday that the situation is getting worse.

Waiting everyday that the numbers to rise just to say, you see I said so.

I feel sorry for these people, because they lost already all hope for an enjoyable life.

The numbers in Tokyo yesterday was lower than the day before.

For me that is a good news. I am happy to hear that.

Of course the numbers will rise again, but at least I can find some good news and hope according yesterdays numbers.

Meanwhile still haven't received my Abe ￥ despite applying 2 months ago here in Nagoya during the first spike. Anyone know who to contact/responsible ? City ward, city govt or national?

The risk that you can get infected with the Corona Virus is probably Zero!

So don’t panic, do this upper mentioned preventions and enjoy to visit your families!

Once again a foreigner who thinks Tokyo is "Japan" and no where else counts!

Stay the hell out of Okinawa! We are now at about 22.3 per 100.000, and it's the worst in Japan.

Oh and I am quite sure no one in "inaka" wants a visit from anyone from Tokyo who may be carrying the virus with them!

People from Tokyo WILL carry the virus to inaka-land, and folks like you will be a huge part of the reason the virus continues to spread here outside of Tokyo.

Because only Tokyo counts! (extreme sarcasm!)

“The idea at the beginning was to "flatten the curve", not to eliminate the chance of anyone getting infected. This is a virus, it will do what it will do. The best option is to isolate people who are at risk, and the rest get on with life. It makes no sense to lock down 20 year olds who have basically zero chance of any serious health risk from covid.”

Hear hear

I was out in Nagoya near the station on Saturday and Sunday for work and it was already a ghost town.

People are already abiding by the common sense rule.

The problem is you get a few who don't and then the clusters start.

I didn't see one person without a mask either.

ExJourno, you are grossly exaggerating the situation. A series of earthquakes or similar disasters is an apples to a-bombs comparison with Covid. This is simply a disease that we have to learn to live with and take sensible precautions. Which doesn't include sabotaging the economy or bullying people into compliance with unneeded and unrealistic restrictions on personal freedom.

RawBeer, the unis won't shut down over this. At worst they will go to all online classes and asynchronous learning. But they don't want to lose the revenue of thousands of paying students.

jforce, you are simply repeating unsubstantiated things you hear in the media. A disease which kills one person in a hundred thousand is nothing to panic over. Life has risk. We take chances every day and don't think twice about them. This is just another minor risk that we need to add to the others that we face.

But he said the government will not officially ask for people to exercise self-restraint."

That's all they needed to say.

Agree.

Here's to hoping the number of cases doesn't explode.

They seem to be already.

They still don't get it, but come flu season they will when the grim reaper comes with the 2nd wave. This virus means business.

Agree 100%.

Why is it the Japanese government is acting like the one across the ocean, and saying one thing, while the reality is that things are worse NOW then back when they declared an emergency?

That is an excellent point. Things are worse now than when they had the SOE. I think it would be prudent to declare another one. This will buy the gov time to try to slow down the rate of infections. During the 2nd one they need to do 2 things: figure out new guidelines for establishments to follow to curb infections- say for example the abolishment of shoulder to shoulder counter seats...just serious measures that are implemented to help curb infections. The second thing they need to do is figure out new laws that actually encourage people to work more from home and maybe even reward companies that take measures to assist their employees in doing so.

Aichi has had 1 single death from this virus since May.

That's all I'm going to say.

Aichi has had 1 single death from this virus since May.

That's all I'm going to say.

Yeah, and didn't that guy have cancer?

Anyone who is healthy has so little to worry about.

The only reason I don't want to catch it is because I don't want my university to be shut down because of me. It's the exaggerated responses that worry/bother me, more than the virus.

You give the impression that only Tokyo People or other People from Japan are responsible that the cases in Okinawa rise.

Guess what (part one) the military cases are not counted in the total for Okinawa!

Guess what (part two) there are very few cases of people in Okinawa, catching the virus because of contact with the military, as of now, a handful if that.

Guess what (part three) as of now, only 4 or 5 cases in the prefecture can be traced to Okinawan people going to mainland and bringing it back with them!

Guess what (part four) The OVERWHELMING majority of cases on island, and in the prefecture, are due to people from, wait for it, visiting here from Tokyo and spreading the virus around!

Guess what (part five) very few people who are living in Okinawa are travelling to mainland, and there are ZERO reported cases of anyone who lives here actually infecting anyone from there.

So, guess what (last part) and from tracing information currently available, it is directly related to the "Go to" campaign and people from not only Tokyo but other areas in mainland Japan, that IMPORTED the virus to Okinawa....We dont want that kind of omiyage!

Stay the hell up there, and we'll stay the hell down here, till this is over!

(Oh if you do choose to come, show some respect for the people here and self-quarantine for 2 weeks before visiting anywhere and we'll do the same up there!)

If the hot summer weather is not slowing the spread of the virus then I hate to think what it will be like when the weather turns cooler.

Perhaps not slowing the spread, but it does appear to slow down the deaths. I suspect it might be related to the increased sun exposure boosting up our vitamin D levels.

I guess we should all hope to catch it during the summer, while our immune system is strong, rather than during the winter.

Do you people understand that the eldery WANT their children and grandchildren to visit them? Because they feel lonely. Why should people not visit their parents, if their parents want that.

The eldery are more concerned about being lonely than catch the virus.

Why do we or the government decide what the eldery wants.

Of course if they say please dont visit us, because we are scared of Corona, nobody will go.

I have a question to you guys:

The WHO came out with news just 2 days ago;

(I dont care actually what they say), but let us guess it is true what they said.

They said, there is a possibility that a vaccine or medical treatment will never be found!

What will you guys do then?

Locked down in your house, never go out anymore, never travel...for the rest of your life?

No, I tell you what you will do, you will live with it. In exactly the same way like many many other people doing it already now!

Because if you dont do that, you will die. Not because of the virus, but because of no money to pay your food, no money to pay your rent...

@ monty, exactly

As my 97 year old great grandmother in-law said when we went back in golden week, and are going to go back in obon

corona, cancer, weak heart something's going to kill me, I just don't want to be lonely.

@Farmboy

 I think we will have a vaccine in 2021,

I hope you are correct and I hope that a good and safe vaccine will be found!

 I suppoe there'll be no beds by tomorrow then.

Unfortunately even if the infected is not in serious condition they will have to be confined, even if asymptomatic.

Hopefully more will be discharged than admitted.

This is a problem with terminology more than anything. From a scientific angle, “boosting” the immune system doesn’t make sense. But things like vitamin D can keep your immune system response working at its optimum.

RawBeer, the unis won't shut down over this. At worst they will go to all online classes and asynchronous learning. But they don't want to lose the revenue of thousands of paying students.

Yeah, that is what I had in mind. By shut down, I only meant that students would be prevented from entering campus. Online classes is not much of a problem, but for lab courses and students carrying out real experiments in labs, this is a problem.

I guess we should all hope to catch it during the summer, while our immune system is strong, rather than during the winter.

It will be more difficult to catch it when our immune system is stronger

It would indeed be more unlikely to get sick from it if our immunity is strong.

You can still become infected, but your immune system would build a strong enough defense to feel little discomfort.

If that's how it works then it's better to just strengthen your immune system then. If vit d is what you want there are sources other than the sun.

They still don't get it, but come flu season they will when the grim reaper comes with the 2nd wave. This virus means business.

Cassandra was right, after all, and just read Camus: reality mirrors fiction!

Big cities have big hospitals. People should stay in their big cities where they can get medical assistance. If infected and travel to small cities or towns, those places don’t have enough facilities to deal with clusters.

Tokyo bed occupancy is at 82%.

If the measures they implemented before don't kick up soon they will run out of beds.

Well. This virus is really whether a glass is half full or empty case. Some thinks all the measures are too extreme where others believe they are not strict enough. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. However, for those who thinks we should lock up the elderlies and the rest can get on with our lives, I just want to remind you that you are getting old and one day you will become elderies. If unfortunately then some new virus appears and are killing the elderlies, please make sure you lock yourselves up and prepare to sacrifice yourselves for the young.

Are those cases in Aichi from known clusters or untraceable? Is there any sign of wide spread community transmission? These factors are important to determine whether the local government is over reacting or not.

I guess we should all hope to catch it during the summer, while our immune system is strong, rather than during the winter.

It will be more difficult to catch it when our immune system is stronger

If that's how it works then it's better to just strengthen your immune system then. If vit d is what you want there are sources other than the sun.

Indeed, but most people (at least in US and Europe) are deficient in vitamin D, especially in winter.

Unfortunately, most people don't know about it. Health officials and the media are doing everything they can to scare us and get us to buy expensive meds, but they do so little to educate us, to tell us how to stay healthy.

Indeed, taking extra vitamin D will not give you a supernatural immune system. But ensuring that one has enough vitamin D (most people do not) is important to have general good health and a healthy immune system, which is all you really need to fight this virus.

If the hot summer weather is not slowing the spread of the virus then I hate to think what it will be like when the weather turns cooler.

If Australia is anything to go by then the response in Japan will have to be stronger...

@Yubaru

Do you understand that Okinawa people also travel a lot to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto... and go back to Okinawa, probably with the Virus?

You give the impression that only Tokyo People or other People from Japan are responsible that the cases in Okinawa rise.

Please don't forget the US military bases, who flew in military staff from the US.

With Japan's Bon holiday season beginning next week, there are concerns that the movement of people will further spread the virus.

Of course there are concerns! Why wouldn't the movement of people further spread the virus?

I think this move from Aichi is the way all prefectures should be going. All governors should declare a SoE within their own prefecture and 'strongly advise' people to refrain from traveling beyond the prefectural border.

Feel free to 'Go To Travel' around your own prefecture if you want, but let's try and limit a much wider spread as much as possible.

So don’t panic, do this upper mentioned preventions and enjoy to visit your families!

unless you're asymptomatic which isn't easy to know unless you have easy access to testing which also isnt easy. You then visit your parents/grandparents and they become infected and die from covid19. So whats your master plan for that scenarios?......stick head in the sand hope for the best

You cannot strengthen or boost your immune system. Vitamin D is necessary for optimum health but it cannot strengthen your immune system. It’s this sort of misinformation that lulls people into a false sense of security.

The best option is to isolate people who are at risk, and the rest get on with life. It makes no sense to lock down 20 year olds who have basically zero chance of any serious health risk from covid.

Right. We need to ignore the fact that less measures taken to prevent the virus will result in more at-risk people dying. It's only the old. They've had a good run, and are almost dead anyways. And it's not like they'd ever block the lines of profit to the elites to protect our demographics. The idea is just unthinkable.

Travelling around the country is not a good idea. It doesn't matter if the number on a whole population is less than 1%. It's a pandemic and its contagious. This means that it spreads and as we know it also kills. I don't want city people coming back to my area, nor do I want people here travelling to the city. Numbers go up when we let our guard down as we've seen so far. Why increase your chances to be part of the statistics?

We have to exercise restraint and care about this. Yes, washing hands and wearing a mask is great, but I've seen lots of people with out of Ken plates shopping in our stores without masks on not being socially distant.

It only takes a few ill-mannered city people to ruin it for all of us. With that said, people up here in Inaka have been lax on masks, too. They feel we won't get infected - especially high school students! If we travel, then this will be a lose-lose.

Think about your family, and the area they live in. If the neigbours see out of Ken plates there could be a backlash against them. There is a stigma associated with COIVD, so even if you test negative that is something else you should consider.

@Yubaru

The preventions I mentioned above is countable for all over Japan.

That includes Okinawa!

Are the Okinawa people doing all these preventions?

Are the military air bases in Okinawa doing all these preventions?

Well, there's at least one Governor with the balls to reinstate the SOE. The country needs to go into requested (mandatory) lockdown immediately to get over this catastrophe - or see a massive explosion is Covid-19 cases.

And to all the nay-sayers who want to compare Japan to other countries: we don't live in other countries. We live in JAPAN! Furthermore, it is going to get tough and we should all be doing our best to future-proof our circumstances.

This situation is akin to a massive series of earthquakes across Japan at the same time or a terrorist attack on all major cities.

This isn't about any one individual and the national government should be doing more to protect life over business and economics! Abe gives everyone a megre handout and disappears. The Osaka Governor takes the bull by the horns and puts the fed govt to shame. Now the Aichi Governor steps up. And Abe is where? Doing what's expected at the WWII memorial. Missing in action ABE!

Good news is that the cases in Tokyo yesterday dropped from 309 to 263.

So 263 cases among a population of 14.000.000 is 0,001%

Not bad for a Wednesday.

So, No need to panic!

But just for the big concern people who likes to go into panic:

Let’s say the reported number of 263 is not correct.

Let’s say Tokyo has 100.000 cases.

That means among 14.000.000 population: 0,7%

Lower than 1%.

Please take this in consideration:

An Infection Rate of 0.001% (or an imagine Infection Rate of 0.7%), and you do your best personal prevention like wearing mask, washing hands, use sanitizer, keep social distance where it is possible....and let me add this, avoid night clubs and night bars.

The risk that you can get infected with the Corona Virus is probably Zero!

So don’t panic, do this upper mentioned preventions and enjoy to visit your families!

@Attilathehungry

That was the first clever comment I heard here for weeks.

Very good Post!