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© KYODOJapan eyes shortened isolation period for close Omicron contacts
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Asiaman7
Yesterday afternoon, I spoke to a Japanese woman who had just been released from a three-day quarantine at a hotel near Haneda Airport. She had been identified as a close contact to a passenger who had tested positive on her flight from Atlanta. According to her, she first received an email reporting that someone on board had tested positive, and she then received a phone call from an official informing her that she had been identified as a close contact. That official, however, said that they were going to let her leave the facility, but they were going to check in with her more often. She was scheduled to be here only three weeks visiting family in Tokyo, so my guess is that the officials realized a two-week quarantine at a government facility would have been excessive and harsh, and might have been viewed as such if the story had made its way to the public.
Good for her, but I truly wonder whether “John Smith” or “Muhammad Aziz” would have received similar treatment.
Yubaru
Love to see how doctors, nurses, 1st responders, manual laborers, bus and taxi driver's, and a plethora of other occupations and those who work in them, are going to "telework"!
The backbone of the economy, and all the service industry employees, basically everyone outside of "white collared" workers will never get the chance to "utilize" teleworking!
I really get annoyed when I see these bureaucrats talking about "telework" like its an option for everyone!
Yubaru
Why? Neither of them would have been allowed into the country anyway, so at least until the end of February a comment like this is nothing other than the proverbial "stirring the pot!"
noriahojanen
It's reasonable, especially for essential workers whose sudden two-week long absence at work could badly affect many other people and communities. Most close contact people test negative while under the current guideline they must be treated almost as equal as "patients". Nonsense and costly.
Asiaman7
Yubaru 05:24 pm JST
Why can’t a fine chap named “John Smith” or “Muhammad Aziz” reside in Japan?
el
Actually now it’s pretty standard for them to let close contacts of any nationality go home rather than stay in the hotel, I’ve heard of lots of cases.
anon99999
If or when the situation in Japan becomes like Australia and there are food shortages and chaos because so many workers are in quarantine enjoying paid holidays at home ( eventhough not sick, not tested just a close contact) maybe they will follow Australia and act flexibly to just scrap the quarantine for close contacts all together.
carpslidy
By next weekend
japan will hit 100,000 cases
icu's will reamain empty
And
will be 5 days and corona will be reclassified as a grade 5 illness.
thistle
Here in Okinawa the wait now just to get tested at the specified testing centers is up to 10 days! So by that time your symptoms have gone and you are already feeling better anyways.
This Omicron is just out of control now, it's a cold virus. Just like the flu. In a few weeks Japan will, like
the U.k. have given up and just tell people to carry on with their lives. Stay at home for a week till you're
better.
Yubaru
But if you are willing to pay 2,000 you can get a test right away, here in Okinawa..
Shane Sommerville
Here on Sydney we are getting 1000’s a day. We don’t need to quarantine unless you have symptoms. Japan is way behind the rest of the world.
stickman1760
Unfortunately for me, the damage has already been done.
I’ve lost work because of the quarantine.
but thanks Kishida. No rush matey. It’s only our livelihoods on the line.
Aly Rustom
NAILED IT!
To be sure teleworking is ALWAYS a good thing. Even if the pandemic is over, teleworking should be the norm. It can lead to not only minimization of Covid spread but also the spread of the common cold and the old fashioned flu. Options for students to study from home should also be explored as many students who suffer bullying at school may see this as a good solution, not to mention students who suffer from Short Attention spans could benefit greatly from having classes and lectures sent to them by email which could then allow them to revisit the class over and over again, which would help them internalize the material better.
In short, we should get it into our heads that there has to be a new normal. especially working and studying from home should be explored more in a country which suffers from overwork and overschooling. We have a chance to fundamentally change society for the better, and the biggest pity will be if we let that opportunity go to waste.
Blitzwing
Aly RustomToday 07:50 am JST
Never let a good crisis go to waste...
Aly Rustom
if you want to look at it that way...
Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne
all those snakes in the grass business experts taking advantage of the situation is what it looks like