Japan reports 95,308 new coronavirus cases

I re-entered Japan for the second time in the Covid era today, and wow, getting into Narita Airport actually resembled something of a normal travel experience! Last summer at Haneda, we had to walk around the airport in a circle for thirty minutes through poorly air conditioned airport gates that had been repurposed into "quarantine stations". This however was not the case at Narita today - only showed my blue screen once and was then at immigration and customs. Kept my mask off the whole time and no one bothered me about it at all.

It is astounding it has taken them close to three years to re-learn how to conduct entry procedures, but baby steps, we're getting there.

Notable that in terms of deaths, this is Japan's worst wave with 300-400 hundred dying daily. But as a news item it has slipped right down the headlines.

this is Japan's worst wave with 300-400 hundred dying daily

More likely that the elderly are dying "with covid" as a result being unable to afford heating.

@Wolfshine - agree Narita is a lot smoother these days. Nobody bothers you if you’re not masking and it feels like a return to some normality. When I came through in March it was like a dystopian movie.

More likely that the elderly are dying "with covid" as a result being unable to afford heating.

How does that work? Why would people become infected from the lack of heating? Makes no sense.

Astounding!!!

It is astounding that cases seem to be dropping.

Time to stop counting cases, downgrade to flu, remove plastic barriers and the paranoia that goes with them.

Numbers are numbers. There’s a big park near where I live. Some plum tree flowers are starting to bloom, yet all the people were still masked up and couldn’t appreciate the fragrance despite being in a 100% no risk environment. What the actual bleep is going on?

Stephan....wow...what kind of Haz-mat style masks are these people using if the fragrance of blooming flowers is being filtered out? Did you ask to try on their masks in order to ascertain that they in fact could not smell the fragrance of the blooming flowers due to the masks? Kinda unsanitary, given that the cold air makes people's noses drip and that goo collects in the mask fibers....ew gross, right?

Stephen

There’s a big park near where I live. Some plum tree flowers are starting to bloom, yet all the people were still masked up and couldn’t appreciate the fragrance despite being in a 100% no risk environment.

Spent 2 weeks in Florida without a mask and barely got a brief sniffle.

You got a brief sniffle while away for two weeks?? Sure it wasn't COVID? You really need to get tested so you can stop spreading it around. Take responsibility.

@wolfshine. Exactly as I told you in October but you dismissed as rubbish when I commented how much had changed since the summer.

Just remember : "the japanese model defeated the covid" in 2020

Time to stop counting cases.

That should be enough to declare the pandemic over, because if you don't count cases, people will stop dying of Covid, right? Simple. Why didn't anyone think of that before?

Or do you propose to stop counting Covid deaths too? They're at record levels, according to the Mainichi:

Alarm bells are sounding in Japan over a sudden sharp increase in the pace of deaths linked to COVID-19.

The number of COVID-19 fatalities exceeded 50,000 on Dec. 1 after new deaths climbed by 10,000 every three or four months. But in a little over a month, the figure is closing in on 60,000.

That should be enough to declare the pandemic over, because if you don't count cases, people will stop dying of Covid, right? Simple. Why didn't anyone think of that before?

They did: 1920. And people are still dying from the flu today. Let's get over this as a society, already. Or do you want to continue to sanitizt your hands, mask up, and use partitions and fax up every 3 months for the rest of your life?

Fax = vax. ;)

People still losing their minds about masks.

One really good thing about it is it enable me to readily identify most people I usually keep as much distance as possible from

Time to stop counting cases.

lol who said that.

is there a country that stopped counting cases?

Let's get over this as a society,

How?