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Japan confirms 14 more virus cases; school to be closed for 2 days

59 Comments
By Stanley White

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© Thomson Reuters 2020.

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Eventually, anything involving Public interaction is going to take a hit.

Which for Shopping Malls, Supermarkets, Restaurants, or Fitness Gyms is going to be a big issue.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

> Identify the source of virus, as soon as possible, please, Abe.

The source is China and its filthy live markets.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Japan needs to temporarily close it's borders from CHINA. Other countries has, why is Government of Japan always hesitate make decisions? People's lives are at stake!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Identify the source of virus, as soon as possible, please, Abe

The source is Wuhan in China.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Add to that a woman in Tochigi who was in the Diamond cruise and tested negative at the time of getting off the cruise but she now tested positive. So much for that "quarantine". Expect more to come.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Keep calm and wash your hands hard.

There is more to it than that. Wash hands properly for 20 seconds. Keep your hands out of your FACE  (mouth nose, eyes etc.) any time before that. Keep aware of what you're doing and if your hands have been cleaned properly before hand then you can put them in your face.

Handheld devices (smartphones etc), door handles, keyboards, or anything else that is constantly touched (public transit needs to do this!) need to be cleaned with disinfectant wipes (containing viricidal chemicals).

Disposable gloves help reduce the amount of contact with any surfaces with your hands that have not been knowingly disinfected.

I'd rather become a temporary germaphobe and err on the side of caution than not.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Let's see if I got this correct since most of the post are way out there and nothing to do with the article. So, among the cases was a junior high school teacher in Chiba Prefecture just east of Tokyo, who went to work even though she had symptoms, raising fears the virus could spread among her students and co-workers. The junior high school teacher in Chiba, in her 60s, first showed symptoms on Feb 12 and was hospitalised on Feb 19. She waited until 5 days later just to be a HERO, though it's been all over the media TV, radio, media talk shows, newspapers, magazines, coffee shops and yet this TEACHER doesn't read? FIRED not for having the virus but for incompetence and poor judgement for a teacher. I would want some heads to roll if my child was exposed due to poor lack of judgement when the GOJ itself has said STAY HOME...

3 ( +3 / -0 )

HBJ, “So where has she been since leaving the ship? How many people has she had contact with - where are they now.”

According to the announcement, she and her husband left the ship on the 19th and were taken to a train station in Tokyo, from where they took train/s to their town in Ibaraki Pre. On the 20th she made one trip out to buy food and necessities. She wore a mask throughout the time she was in public. She did not go out again until going to a hospital.

So she wasn't quaranatined and was allowed out in public. Disgraceful mishandling by the authorities, who ever sanctioned this should be sacked.

BTW, wearing the mask will not stop her passing on the virus. Stop clinging to the mask, it gives a false sense of security and is probably responsible for the spread of this and other viruses in Japan.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

The gov should be aware that groups of people are infected and spreading the virus intentionally and posting the places they go to eat, on instagram.

I for one ain't leaving home.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I just read the title and jumped to everybody's comments.....

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Keep calm and wash your hands hard.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Identify the source of virus, as soon as possible, please, Abe.

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

2 days? The school needs to shut for 24 days and all students sharing the same rooms (including toilets) need to be home quarantined those 24 days.

China has reported multiple longer-than-14-day incubation periods. https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/generalinfectiousdisease/84963

People can be carriers without any symptoms and for up to 7 days after recovery from the virus.

This is the ship quarantine fiasco all over again. Either strong actions are taken now or the world will be dealing with this 100 months from now. Quebec made mistakes by have too short quarantine periods for SARS, so they had 2 spikes in the cases rather than 1.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Well, considering that recently scientists found that one could carry the virus, not show any symptoms, and still infect people, good luck Japan.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Keep calm and wash you hands.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@ marcelito

If thats the case Im happy to admit it....my understanding was that only people who were cleared as " not infected " after being checked by J- authorities were allowed to disembark and travel home , both foreign and Japanese.

If, I did not get it wrong : Both the US and South Korea choose to cut short the quarantine period on board and bring back their national prior to the end of it. They still were tested but not cleared as the incubation period was not finished.

The others countries waited for the end of the quarantine, their nationals to be tested by Japanese authorities and allowed to disembark then brought them home and tested them again.

For the US it was on the 16th :

https://in.reuters.com/news/picture/us-passengers-evacuated-from-diamond-pri-idINRTS32GT6

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Just on the news, a lady in my prefecture reported as having the virus.

She had been on the cruise ship with her husband and was let off to just walk back into society - take packed trains, go to the supermarket etc.

This has made me so freaking angry.

It was so damn obvious that this was going to happen.

So where has she been since leaving the ship? How many people has she had contact with - where are they now.

Abe and his government should resign on mass. They're an absolute disgrace.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

I could be wrong, but if it got to Chiba,... on that tobu line,..or anywhere on that musashino line.... it is damn near everywhere in Tokyo. and if it is everywhere in Tokyo, many stupid gaijin will e brining it elsewhere. unfortunately. and again, how the japanese culture of going to work even with a bullet in the head and 'ganbare',..most likely many will most likely have it. i remember the trains being jam packed with people with masks having their faces pressed against the glass with fog on the windows. i personally do not think people should live that way. the good thing, more walking room for others, and people with anxiety and agoraphobia definitely can't complain about that. it kind of seems they wanted to spread it. not saying they did do it on purpose, but it seems that way. i just hate when bad things happen to good people.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

For these people to get infected clearly there are unknown other people out there that have infected them. Japan is now out of control for the virus.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Unfortunately, the genie is already out of the bottle, if you consider how quickly cases have spiraled from to a few to hundreds and in the case of Wuhan 10,000s, then it is not hard to see that Japan could easily have 1000s if not 10,000s of cases within weeks, unless measures adopted in China are undertaken, and I doubt whether this is possible let alone likely, then Japan along with almost any other country has to prepare for a flu season where up to 20% of the population catches the virus, the difference is the fatality rate might be as much as 2% compared with about 0.1% for regular flu. Not good news

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This particular article now opens up the question of whether the past policies and procedures used to monitor and treat corona-virus related epidemics and assumptions such as that 24 hr. life of the virus outside of human contact, that 14 days are the actual incubation period and if contact and airborne immediacy are the actual transmission routes, are effective for this virus. Now that it is known that different strain of the corona-virus is starting an epidemic from Iran, there is a danger that the entire prevention and containment method as well as the treatment method must be re-evaluated and changed.

For all we know, it may be 30 days or more incubation period for some people. We alrady know that a person is infectious and contagious once they contract the virus. We also know that the virus is constantly mutating and some mutations have already been discovered. That means quarantine for 14 days do not make sense. And the quarantine method, the procedures may not work as it may have during other outbreaks. Certainly that is also true for influenza (the FLU), even with vaccination.

It now requires scientists and doctors to look at the corona-virus from a totally different perspective and not assume that the past has the correct answers or that it is a routine effort. For all we know, the virus may be infecting other animals that may not have the symptoms and reinfecting humans. That really means we must take precautions on our own during the meantime.

It is said that even if a vaccine is found in about 1 to 2 years, the production and vaccination of the world population is expected to take just as long, 2 to 3 years. The problem is the mean while... the 2 to 3 years... what toll it may take. Hopefully that vaccine if found is in time to stop any viruses that may have mutated during the meantime.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I've been going to work with a cold for the past two weeks, and most of my students continue to work when they're sick too. Japan needs compulsory sick leave.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

You mean Japanese government allowed them on a plane out of Tokyo after they were apparenly ' not infected' ...they got properly tested and diagnosed after arrival...just like the Aussies, Israelis, etc.....

Marcelito,

You're wrong, buddy. The fact is that the 14 were already infected and knowingly allowed to go back with the other evacuees on the same plane. WTH??

https://www.google.co.jp/amp/s/arstechnica.com/science/2020/02/coronavirus-patients-flew-to-us-after-cdc-explicitly-recommended-against-it/%3famp=1

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Where is the information about how and where the people contracted the virus? One woman in Chiba? Is she near Katsuura where the quarantine was?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

One of the Japanese Wuhan returnees who refused quarantine just gave coronavirus to his young son. Reported on NHK last night. The young child is one of the stats in the report above. Why is this being downplayed in the media?

I thought that guy was a selfish jerk at the time he returned and refused quarantine. If the reports now coming in are true, I think he is a complete grub of a human. This is actually child abuse, and he should be investigated.

I feel sorry his son has him as a relative. Get well soon kid.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

This:

Incubation period could be much longer

A 70-year-old man in China’s Hubei province was infected with coronavirus but did not show symptoms until 27 days later, the local government said on Saturday, suggesting the virus’s incubation period could be much longer than the presumed 14 days.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/feb/22/coronavirus-live-updates-who-worried-cases-no-link-china-infections-death-toll-latest

And, what do they mean, COULD? This had been widely known for weeks.

And who decided that 14 days was a good period for quarantine anyway? And who told us no, it wasn't asymptomatic; it isn't transmitted via aerosol; it won't become a pandemic? The cruise ship is all good?; It's not going to be an issue in Japan?

Just go about your business as usual. All will be OK

Heads need to roll!

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Get ready folks, if this gets out of hand then food & drink will quickly become scarce!!!

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Japan's government is facing growing questions about whether it is doing enough to stop the spread of the coronavirus

Has any government be able to prevent the spread of the Cornavirus?

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

One of the Japanese Wuhan returnees who refused quarantine just gave coronavirus to his young son. Reported on NHK last night. The young child is one of the stats in the report above. Why is this being downplayed in the media?

Every other country forces 14 days quarantine on their Wuhan returnees. Big, big error by the Japanese government.

14 ( +14 / -0 )

True, the virus wasn’t created by Japanese government but this situation is created by the stupidity of Japanese government.

Really How? The US government just allowed 14 positives on the plane and the CDC just shipped defect test kits.

What government is doing a good job? The US? Name one.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Japanese friends:

How are you getting along?? I am your Chinese neighbor. I am very worried about your safety. Pay attention to it!

2 ( +5 / -3 )

People have to go to work even though they are sick.

Yes. This needs to change not because this novel corona virus is so special (its not really THAT special). It needs to change because it extends illness and delays doctor visits. Prolonging illness is not good for over-all health. Delaying doctor visits is just plain criminal.

13 ( +14 / -1 )

Lack of strong central leadership is going to lead to disaster.

Precisely the opposite is true. Fact 1: I don't care what they do. They can get as authoritarian as PRC and shut down entire cities. It won't stop the virus spreading across the world. You cannot stop an cold virus out of the lab. Forget it. Fact 2) Strong central leadership in China in fact made everything worse than it needed to be by shutting down Wuhan and leaving those people more vulnerable to this bad cold. Fact 3) There is not going to be a disaster here. This is a cold virus which causes pneumonia...or nothing in some people. Neither colds nor pneumonia are anything new. Its not been so bad anywhere but in China and its not going to be. Pneumonia has been the third leading cause of death for years in Japan. Stop acting like its brand new.

And stop with the hysterical comments.

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

Keep calm and wash your hands.

3 ( +8 / -5 )

@Sebaschan

Well said.

Also why in the name of God is it necessary for around 30 kindergarten children dressed in shorts and skirts and yellow caps with no masks to be hoarded onto an already standing room only JR commuter train by their teachers (wearing masks) at 9.05am on a 5 degree morning for a 30 minute ride down to Osaka Castle Park for an excursion.

I witnessed by myself earlier in the week.

13 ( +13 / -0 )

School closed - who looks after the Kids ? Someone has to stay at home - which sort of is a set-back for Women after Childbirth wanting to re-enter the job market.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

> Among the cases was a junior high school teacher in Chiba Prefecture just east of Tokyo, who went to work even though she had symptoms, raising fears the virus could spread among her students and co-workers.

Surely, time to have the Japanese population educated otherwise whole cities and towns will have to be shut down!

9 ( +9 / -0 )

I hope everybody blaming her knows that there is no sick leave in Japan. People have to go to work even though they are sick. And taking vacation is also not an option for most people due to pressure from colleagues and superiors.

If anybody is to blame it is Japan's leadership (not just the current one) for not implementing rules that protect the workforce.

14 ( +18 / -4 )

Given the statistically high infection rate on the cruise ship, and the fact that testing of the virus has at least 30% false negatives, it stands to reason that the realease of passengers on 19 Februaruary will have some who are infected but tested negative. That is why overseas evacuees from the cruise ship are later tested positive. There will be exponential rise in number of infections in japan as the authorities dont seem to understand infection control and silence those academic experts who dare to voice their disquiet at its foolish containment policy.

16 ( +16 / -0 )

I cannot phrase my thoughts about this sheer incompetence without violating the posting guidelines

And they say the handing has been successful. It’s the Emperor’s New Clothes.

17 ( +18 / -1 )

Please try to remember that Japanese Gov. didn't create this problem. It's easy to blame Japan for their response, but there are many people doing their best to come up with a cure.

True, the virus wasn’t created by Japanese government but this situation is created by the stupidity of Japanese government.

15 ( +18 / -3 )

So first Japan brings everyone from Wuhan and doesn’t quarantine them properly and lets them go back to their homes on public transport, they spread the virus on their way home and in homes, then comes Diamond Princess and the process is repeated with the evacuees and these brainless bureaucracy and politicians are still urging the companies to adapt telework and just closing the school for two days for what rationale?

I cannot phrase my thoughts about this sheer incompetence without violating the posting guidelines

21 ( +22 / -1 )

2 days? Waiting for the man in Ichikawa having tested positive, regular user of Soba Line. He is not being mentioned? This is going to blow up. The "official" figures are way off. A teacher an apparently educated person spent a week mingling with children and moms. Holy cow...(no offence to the Hindu cult). But I guess as its deemed by bueuracrats that 2 days is enough that's cool.

16 ( +18 / -2 )

The woman first showed symptoms on Feb 12 and was hospitalised on Feb 19, according to media. She went to work while she had symptoms, so the local government will close her school for two days from Feb 25.

This is so annoying. We know that there Japanese think it is their duty to work through illness - duty over self, but it is do idiotic, especially in the current environment. By Feb 12, everyone knew about the risk and was concerned. Yet she still went to work.

33 ( +35 / -2 )

People are going to have to to start realising that they can't go to work if they have symptoms that could be Coronavirus.

It's a poor decision as children will be put at risk.

22 ( +25 / -3 )

People are getting very nervous and skittish about the novel coronavirus across the world. It's partly because the path of infection by this virus is still unknown. Wish that at least would be clarified as soon as possible. .

11 ( +13 / -2 )

Please try to remember that Japanese Gov. didn't create this problem. It's easy to blame Japan for their response, but there are many people doing their best to come up with a cure.

-26 ( +8 / -34 )

It's getting close to my area :/

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Lack of strong central leadership is going to lead to disaster. Studying and working can be done from home, and should be mandated.

16 ( +21 / -5 )

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