Japan eyes emergency coronavirus legislation as infections rise

It is difficult to foresee if draconian measures are really the answer to this corona virus, even though it seems like it is working well in China, since new cases have been dropping very quickly, it is still too early to tell.

Definitely, inaction by the government is not excusable but I would hate to see my freedom taken away. I would most likely obey if told to stay indoors if it is the best course of action but I can see how some of the people would not, and in that case the power to intervene might be necessary.

... Including everytime the Diamond Princess numbers is creating confusion. Seriously.

I noticed very harsh criticism towards Japan also in the German press. And when I wrote something about this in German newspapers, I was censored. While the left wing Korean government is considered perfect and trustworthy no matter what, just because (left wing). Politicization of this "virus" is already rampant.

In summary the Government will make laws to control people more by telling them if they can get out of home or not and find ways to spend money on their friend’s companies.

We shall overcome!

Seriously, can they stop using the cruise ship among Japanese statistics. How many passengers were actually Japanese nationals?

Very misleading to say the least.

Oh, people can put thumbs down whatever they want, but if some press didn't act so "weird", people wouldn't be so confused.

@Gorramcowboy: stop complaining about that, or you are accused to downplay Japanese numbers.

I am not so worried about the virus, what I am worried about is all the unemployed LUNATICS on Social Media and Amazon trying to make a $ .

Some part of worldwide press already decided that:

China lied but now we can trust them about the declining numbers

Iran always lies

Japan is downplaying the numbers to defend the Olympics and no matter what the government does, it's always "wrong"

Italy is the major cluster in Europe, but they don't care to remember how we did almost 30,000 tests already, unlike the modest number of tests made in the rest of Europe. We created red zones, we closed schools, etc., but we are barely winning any praise and trust

South Korean government is praised no matter what. I think in Italy we are doing even more than they are doing but European press isn't so kind towards us.

The virus is real, but how the information is treated is very politically biased.

What, this many Wednesday, the number of confirmed cases rose to 1,001 in Japan, is this including the 800 from the ship?

If people are forced to stay home, how are they going to buy their toilet paper?

Italy is the main competitor in the food market for France, I meant. And about Japan, people shouldn't forget that South Korea wanted already boycott Tokyo Olympics, and they were pushing the narrative about radioactive food and stuff. The fact that they are pushing everywhere the idea that Japan is hiding the real numbers of the coronavirus cases shouldn't be a surprise at this point, and the fact that some other foreign newspapers embrace this narrative isn't weird at all, in times of trade war.

These are South Korean accusations against Japan:

http://m.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200304000701

Apparently embraced by many users here. Exactly, can South Korea prove their accusations? Are they unbiased when they speak about Japan? Really? And why we should trust South Korean leaders, who showed to be corrupted as much as Japanese leaders and others in their history? This is something that some users could explain me. And please, tell me again that this emergency isn't used for political reasons from some Countries.

Anybody have a good source for number of tests being done daily?

@taj: every Country does whatever it wants. Italy tested more than 25,000 people. Koreans say they tested overall more than 100,000 people. They say they tested 10,000 people per day Vs Japan testing 900 people per day. If these numbers are real, Japan is testing anyway way more people than any other European Country, except for Italy, is doing. But their obsession with Japan is obvious. Plus, the point is, regardless the numbers declared by any government, can we trust them? I am starting to trust Countries that are showing off how good they are on the world stage way less than Countries that are more calm and they are not playing the role of the model student. This is pure propaganda at this point.

How do they know how many are infected when they have so few testing kits?

Yeah, just throw money at it. That'll kill the virus.

Closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

@marcelito: It's not an obsession over South Korea, it's that South Korea is establishing the pattern embraced by many users here that Japan is downplaying the numbers to defend the Olympics. It's a possibility, but not a fact, just because South Korea say this. And I noticed part of the foreign press is embracing South Korean attitude. It's about how this emergency is becoming a political tool, and it's very dangerous for us ordinary people, who are already very confused and afraid about the development of this crisis. The obsession of including the Diamond Princess numbers is another example of how press can create confusion just because MAYBE they need to inflate (?) the numbers to pander to some parties. At this point, I don't think that 1,000 or 300 confirmed cases makes any real difference. I think the Countries where there are some confirmed cases unrelated to travels in contaminated areas, are Countries that can have some thousands of infected people. This playing with the numbers is stupid. It's irresponsible to treat this as a competition and exploting the situation for trade war and political advantages.

Seriously, can they stop using the cruise ship among Japanese statistics. How many passengers were actually Japanese nationals?

Are you infering that foreigners living in Japan if infected should be included in their home country count?

The government eyes...action?

ahhem might be time to take action but it's too late now anyway. Again.

@drlucifer: he is saying that those foreigners in the Diamond Princess are in their home Country already, and included in the tally of their home Country. If you continue to include them in Japanese tally, they are counted TWICE.

We created red zones, we closed schools, etc., but we are barely winning any praise and trust

South Korean government is praised no matter what. I think in Italy we are doing even more than they are doing but European press isn't so kind towards us.

Waoh, South Korea phobia.

Alex80Today  04:36 pm JST

I noticed very harsh criticism towards Japan also in the German press

Links please.

@mu-da: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.dw.com/en/coronavirus-are-japans-school-closures-a-political-move-to-save-the-olympics/a-52574748

The key figures to look at are death tolls and number of infected patients under grave conditions, which are obvious and critical. In Japan, both numbers have so far been significantly low, far lower compared to many other infectious cases taking place in the country. As often noted, a seasonal flu endemic kills around 10,000 despite alert and treatment (but without nationwide panic like this time)

As for the number of infection cases, a spike is still possible when more inspections are conducted. Many healthy people can recover without symptoms. A fear is transmission by carriers to someone more vulnerable to the virus. Thus primary targets to protect should be elderly and those staying chronically ill. For instance, inspections should be fast-tracked to those people. Medical services and resources are scarce, conflicting among patients of other ills, some serious ones. At macro, national policy level, it's crucial to hold a reasonable balance by putting things into perspective.

At micro, individual level, the bottom-up solution is still important to keep on taking: washing hands frequently, avoid an indoor larger crowd awhile.

I think Japan is doing a great job... I just came back last night from a trip to USA, UK and Europe and they are all running around like headless chickens compared with Japan.

The USA especially is pitiful and it's already exploding there... they have no testing set up and it would cost people a fortune anyway... but Mike Pence is praying hard so maybe it'll be fine!!

I think Japan has done a great job so far (apart from not telling the public to stop freaking out over face masks and that they are completely useless unless you are actually already infected.!)

Also the quackery going on in the States is insane... "drink hot lemon juice to protect yourself against corona virus" and a million other pieces of twattish nonsense.

But then again it is America so who is surprised?

@Moderator : Yes.

Thank you for the clarification, feel much better but still somewhat concerning. Will JT reporters be posting Areas affected including number without including the ships. Does anyone out there have that data available for us to view? Thnxs. : )

@taj

For Corona Stats (Japanese , NHK)

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/coronavirus/

John Hopkins comprehensive stats:

http://coronaviruslivestats.com/

@Alex80

if some press didn't act so "weird", people wouldn't be so confused.

Again with "the press is evil". I'm sick of people blaming mainstream media for everything. In Japan, the press could rightly be blamed for being pathetically weak regarding holding the government to account (on any issue), but in relation to coronavirus, I haven't seen anything "weird" so far. There is no need for paranoia regarding how Japan has been portrayed abroad. (Assuming you read respected news outlets) there has been no "ganging up on" Japan in the English language press.

So there is a patent on this coronavirus owned by the US. It could be a deadly virus releasable and used as a bio-weapon. China tries to develop her own coronavirus or a different strain of it. A US drug company has a drug to use for the Chinese coronavirus. The company applies for a patent to be used for the Chinese virus but may not have been successful.

This coronavirus has been around since the 70’s. It’s the source of D.R. Koontz and Dan Brown’s fiction going off of that

Look up “coronavirus patent.” This isn’t something from eating exotic food. It’s from the laboratories, but what exactly is the US and China trying to do? Is this a part of their trade war?

Need more information. Meanwhile the rest of the world just suffers. Anyone?

"So there is a patent on this coronavirus owned by the US." etc.

Hilarious.

@Alex80

@mu-da: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.dw.com/en/coronavirus-are-japans-school-closures-a-political-move-to-save-the-olympics/a-52574748

If this is your evidence of "harsh criticism", I think you have a very thin skin.

A lot of bureaucrats, long term Jiminto supporters etc. criticised the sudden school closures. The article you've referenced is not an example of "harsh criticism", and it is not claiming to be stating a fact about the connection to the Olympics. It is an intelligent question to ask though. It would be naive in the extreme to imagine that the Olympics are not playing any part in the government's thinking. The Japanese that I know agree that Abe was "trying to look like he was doing something" by asking for schools to close.

As of Wednesday, the number of confirmed cases rose to 1,001 in Japan

That's since the virus first started spreading in Japan, which was more than a month ago now.

How many of those 1,001 have recovered?

"Are you infering that foreigners living in Japan if infected should be included in their home country count?"

They will be counted as Japanese domestic cases if they were actually infected in Japan.

If I catch Syphilis is Thailand and come back to the UK will I be considered to have caught the virus in London?

Everyone knows the answer, including you.

Passengers on the ship were not originally infected in Japan.

This is a completely reasonable response.

I mean, 15 people from a population of over 120 million have died, that's like 0.00001% of the population, so taking away the liberties and rights of the 99.999% of the population that is not affected by this is a completely reasonable response to this.

This in no way is panic, don't you believe is panic, you are in the right, hoarding toilet paper, counting the number of infected every day and watching obsessively news on the virus is completely normal and sane behavior.

You are scared, so let papa government take care of the matter, they obviously know what they are doing, and this is in no way exploiting a pandemic in order for the executive to grab more power.

I'm looking forward getting arrested for going outside without government permission. I'll be also trilled if they implanted a GPS under my skin so that papa government can take better care of me, like he always do.

Thank you all for being so reasonable that you care more about if this is ENOUGH of a measure, and do not really care of the mayor implications on the human rights and liberties of this country.

You are all heroes.

Happy to be your hero. IMO the government response has been abysmal - from a compromised immune system elder. This is a step in the right direction - just late

I heard on a news report that the actual number of infections within Japan may be significantly greater than is currently reported due to the lack of testing for confirmation. Seriously significantly greater... as in over 30K People... that's a bit troubling.

Furthermore, it seems now, according to the SCMP that the Chinese Authorities are saying that the original virus has mutated into several strains - each with their own characteristics. Presumably this makes getting any inoculation sorted out more problematic, more so, since the CCP does readily not share information with the rest of the World. The Shanghai research Lab that "leaked" the original Genome to the rest of the World , has recently been put on suspension ... again, according to the South China Morning Post (BTW Jack Ma owns that organization and he's a CCP member... so ?#! not sure what to believe).

@Peeping_Tom - Why do you think so many Cruise ships have been turned away from so many Countries ?

The days of going on a Cruise Ship are numbered within the foreseeable future.... So much for Richard Branson's dream - sorry mate, bad timing, sh1t happens.

The Chinese adopted the Draconian approach of enforcing people stay put, for 14 days, then extended that for a month. People were not allowed to interact.

If you had the virus, you'd be taken away. And if you were in the neighbourhood, you would be lucky not to have had it passed onto you, the 14 day initial incubation period being reset every time a new occurrence was detected in your area. That's the information coming out from those with Family back in China. The problem is, China's CCP does not reveal information lightly - one has to wonder however, why they are building new Crematoriums, which appear to be working 24 hours a day.

What we are seeing now, within the Western Countries, is a more realistic view upon how dangerous this virus is, though without the Draconian measures the Chinese Adopted for forcefully preventing its transmission.... the UK has hinted at something akin to the Chinese method - and that, is I fear, the way things will go in order to control it.

Good luck everyone, and take care.

This is real funny whenever things go wrong in Japan. They have these idiots blaming other countries as scapegoats

if Japanese government is not doing their .....job, blaming your own government not other countries

its getting tiresome, natural disasters, wars , man made disasters it’s happening here It’s not Japan, it’s that other country

your politicians is not doing the job you expect , complain to him,

man, this is elementary school reaction

Coronavirus COVID-19 Japan Case by Each Prefecture

https://jagjapan.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/55c22ee976bc42338cb454765a6edf6b

Responding to an urgent request, Japan is beefing up inspections using PCR-method. To date (4.3), the number of diagnosis have tripled to near 6, 000 across the country; only 16 newly identified positive. Even an error taken into account, the figure itself is significantly small. The death tolls related to Covid-19 in Japan are 12, all aged, half from the cruise ship (means only 6 dead in landside). Please cross-check yourself updates at WHO site or else official reports if you like

In looking into the outbreak pattern in mainland China (except the epicentre Wuhan), with any time lag considered, the peak phenomenon is supposed to be emerging in Japan at earlier this month. It may be right to say this week is much critical, but I personally don't think that so many, say over 100 people, would all of a sudden die of the virus during that period or even afterwards.

"@Peeping_Tom - Why do you think so many Cruise ships have been turned away from so many Countries ?@

Whatever the reason(s) for refusal, the ship was to be counted separately, as per WHO's guidance.

Many on this board disagree (as they always must blame Japan for even existing), but they're not any sort of authority.

The WHO is.

Now that the ship passengers have been allowed into Japan, they've been added to the local count.

However, given they're not autochtone cases (i.e the infection), a distinction still needs to be made; between those infected in-country, i.e. domestic and those from abroad, i.e. imported cases.

Simples.

@taj ; @ rgcivilian1 ; ' any other looking for data about Japan :

I do not know data about number of tests (people tested for 2nd, 3rd, ... time ; cruise people), just about number of new tested people. (thanks to the people which shared the link. Sorry, I am bad with name)

Data provided by government as of February the 29th : that show the number of person tested excluding cruise people.

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_09860.html

Big database : (my word, you believe it or not) I got it a few day ago, until the day before yesterday the number of new people tested a day was in between 100 and 150. Yesterday, the number of cases raised but not the number of new tested person (at last update at 23:??). Today the increase is around 4000 (it is still moving, so the people working on it must be crosschecking).

https://covid19japan.com/

They also provide a database about patient :

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jfB4muWkzKTR0daklmf8D5F0UfIYAgcx-Ij9McClQ/edit

I have followed the news constantly for a month not because I am worried about being infected but because I am worried about my kids going to school, my business outlook and watching sports events in person.

And have decided I am out.

If the world has mass hysteria its too exhausting.

I am going to ride out the losses, turn off the tv and enjoy the first free time in a long time at the empty parks, shopping malls and restaurants with my family until either the money runs out or common sense returns.

This is a hard decision for Edano. If you order the legislators of Ritsumintō not to support the measures to fight the coronavirus. Abe could accuse him of negligence. The same goes for Kokumintō. 

It is time to put partisan electoral interests aside and face a common enemy. The eradication of an infectious virus for which there is no vaccine yet. Public health is now the top priority. And that requires a sense of state.

I hope that these political parties will not use or block these emergency measures. Because if you do. His political credibility would be shattered. And it wouldn't exactly be Abe's fault.

I think panic from the public is exaggerating things and making things worse than what it really is. Out of the world 94k infection, around 51k has already recovered. Even Japan 1000 number, around 300 has already recovered. People need to calm down. If you look at the worldometers info, things are finally looking up. By April this things is gone before a cure can ever be found. Like what happen to MERS and SARS years ago. Governments lost interest in developing a cure after the virus died down. But by then the world encomy is probably at the worst state ever.

We are doing way better than others anyway. Our patients are at least recovering faster than Korea. The casualties we suffer are mostly 80yrs old patients or in Korea case old patients that are already suffering from other diseases like cancer.

Happy to be your hero. IMO the government response has been abysmal - from a compromised immune system elder. This is a step in the right direction - just late

You are right sir, you are a true hero. It's not like someone with a compromised immune system should be always aware of the risks, since medical problems thought as minor can become a great problem if your inmune system is not strong enough to fight the problem.

Of course not, this one requires common sense prevention techniques to avoid becoming infected, so it makes sense for everyone to freak out for the minority of people immunodeficient, because we all know that it isn't that people are panicking thinking this might kill them, not at all, it is that all of them are just worried about the immunodeficient people of the world, that must be it.

Also, you are so right to think this is a step in the right direction. In the worst of cases, if we get too scared we can always try to burn people alive so that the virus doesn't spread to healthy people. It is an emergency, so we can escalate things as much as it makes people reassured.

@Hiro

I think panic from the public [...] People need to calm down.

There is lot of people talking about panic, can you please give reliable data to prove the existence of the panic, the cause of it, the manifestation of it, the amount of people concerned by it and so on.

For people interesting in data :

As stated in NHK, 181 people from the ship recovered

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/coronavirus/

click on : 新型ウイルス 国内の感染確認1000人超える（クルーズ船含む）; that is at the end.

I think that we are doing better than some others.

I fixed it for you.

As someone due to fly out from the UK in 3 weeks, presumably along with lots of other travelers for blossom season, the reality is for me that it’s either under control within 2 weeks or the Japanese gov will need to declare a state of emergency across a number of areas so that the relevant foreign governments advise against travel, so people can claim on their holiday insurance. If it’s not under control by the end of March and visitors arrive it will spread. If the British foreign office don’t issue a “don’t travel” warning we will have to travel or lose all our money. Most European counties now have a problem, not as big as Japans but it’s multiplying rapidly and mostly linked to Italy, before too long it will be ubiquitous.

Using this dashboard, the actual number for japan is 331.

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

I should add, the dashboard separates the Diamond Princess from the numbers, as it should.

@Luis

Most everybody over 70 are immunodeficient - cancer, diabetes, etc. And you might want to check on Japan’s longevity statistics.

And burning people - hyperbole for sure. In a society people work for the greater good, or didn’t you learn that in grade school? Your apparent opposition to mandatory quarantine is mind boggling.

If I were over 80 years of age then I would be at home most of the time-that is normal anyway.

However, locking the country down for a virus infection which is not fatal is an overblown fearful response.

To tell the truth I am more concerned about being placed in an enforced quarantine....

Good to see that testing in Japan has finally been ramped up. From just a few hundred a day, to over 3000, and then to 6500.

No wonder numbers of confirmed cases jumped.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/liveblogs/news/coronavirus-outbreak-updates/

Now, if there was a way go test everybody who wanted to be tested instead of just certain people associated with so called clusters, then we'd get an even better picture of the full extent of the problem here.

They talk about clusters beginning in live houses (two are been investigated) which is good, but what about packed trains? So far, nobody wants to address that elephant in the room.

Thank you, Flute!

https://covid19japan.com/ is exactly what I've been looking for!

the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, a pneumonia-like respiratory disease,

I think the writer of this article has got their information a bit mangled. AFAIK, Covid-19 is the strain of virus, not an illness. So saying there are over 90,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 means that number tested positive for the virus. This includes many who are asymptomatic or only have very mild symptoms. They could however be contagious.

If someone has severe symptoms of Covid-19 infection, they will have viral pneumonia, not "a pneumonia-like disease". If its critical, this will progress to ARDS. I think us lay people would just say they are critically ill with pneumonia and having trouble breathing, though.

It helps to have clear and accurate information. Confusion can add to fear and panic.

Tora

Good to see that testing in Japan has finally been ramped up. From just a few hundred a day, to over 3000, and then to 6500.

No wonder numbers of confirmed cases jumped.

Could you please provide a link that tests have risen to 6500 day.

I don't know how you say an increase of 35 new cases in a population of 125 million is a remarkable increase.