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Patient at infected doctor's hospital tests positive for coronavirus

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In Japan people often use holiday to cover sickness, even where they have the potential to use sick leave. Very odd

Not odd at all. In Japanese contracts, bonus often depends on your attendance. If you take too many sick days, you lose the bonus (which can be 1/3 of income)... so people calculate and do what is to maintain their bonus.

Here in France, in lots of companies, the 3 first days, you are not paid, sick day payment start from the 4th and it can be as low as 1/3 of your ordinary salary. So everybody tries to use paid holidays for a "short" illness. Years ago, I had just started a jo

But civil servants or certain employees with better deals get fully compensated from first day... and I remember how my

0 ( +0 / -0 )

the government needs to get the Police involved and track down all the people who may been contact with current infected patients, This is a crisis coming and if the government does same tactic as the cruise ship, we will have crisis in our hands

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Do Japanese workers get sick-pay? 

Just like in the UK. Depends on your job and who you work for. Some do, some don't.

As far as I understood it, in the UK all permanent employment comes with sick pay. Temporary or contract workers don't, I believe.

In Japan people often use holiday to cover sickness, even where they have the potential to use sick leave. Very odd

0 ( +0 / -0 )

no way to know the causality as you can carry and spread the virus without symptoms for a week

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Today, in addition, it was some infectious in Hokkaida, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kanagawa, Okinawa.

It has been around 10 local cases in 2 days

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It's just the flu, folks. That's all it is. All this panic and fear mongering is ridiculous. I'm frankly tired of all this press coverage just because science has discovered a new strain of the flu virus.

Spanish 'flu was "just the flu" and it killed nearly 20m people. This varient is also very different from standard flu for the following reasons:

it has a mortality rate of about 2% vs 0.1% for normal flu i.e. it is 20 times more deadly.

It very infectuous - just look at the rate at which it spread on the cruise liner - ordinary flu does not spread at this rate.

Across the world, ordinary flu is still by far the biggest killer (about half a million a year), but that is because it is endemic across the world. If cononavirus spreads across the world, the death toll could potentially run into millions.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Nakanoguy,people are not dying from the flu, they are dying from the Wuhan pneumonia complications of the flu

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

It's just the flu, folks. That's all it is. All this panic and fear mongering is ridiculous. I'm frankly tired of all this press coverage just because science has discovered a new strain of the flu virus.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

The common cold won’t stop them from going to work but the flu or fever imo is generally where the line is drawn.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

In Japan to stay home with a cold or while feeling down isn’t being considerate, its being lazy.

So don’t be shockee when you have a bunch of sick folks with masks on (oh arent we safe now) making everyone around them exposed to illness.

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WOW!!! And they are going to send another plane to WUHAN on Sunday??!!

Instead of attempting to contain this thing, they are just encouraging it's proliferation.

Coupled with the infectious people being allowed to disembark the cruise ship and enter Japan, you might as well just say a RESIDENT EVIL scenario has just begun.

God help us all. SMH.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

The article raises more questions than it answers

That's how the situation is. It seems nobody has a clue how both the farmer and the doctor got the bug.

Do Japanese workers get sick-pay? 

Paid holidays for employees, like in most countries. But doctors are paid by 'task', so all leaves are at their expenses. Social security/ insurances cover (partly) income loss for longer illnesses.

Well J-doctors tend to be well off and those I know refrain to take time off, or maternity leave, or even full week-ends,or even retire at 65/70/75..., only because nobody can replace them with their many patients.

The national shortage of all medical staff doesn't help.

If each medical staff took a week off everytime he/she had any cold symptom, every winter, most hospitals would have only 1/5 to 2/3 of staff available to work.

The thing is doctors (nurses, carers) get routinely vaccinated for the flu, but they still get more exposed due to seeing patients everyday, so even not sick themselves, they may transmit stuff. They try to evaluate contamination risks and do the best.

People should never be financially worse off for being sick... 

Should not, but that's what happens to most on this planet. In some countries, that's double penalty as in addition to lose income, you get in debts to pay medical care.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The doctor took two days off, I see nothing wrong with him wanting to get back to work, you have no idea how many patients he personally wanted to attend to, stop the bashing, I know in some developed countries people call in sick whiles not sick just to take a paid holiday, doctors are on the front lines and saving lives , instead of being sympathetic you chose to bash on the least opportunity u get

2 ( +5 / -3 )

How did the farmer get infected?

One quick check of his passport will give it up....

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

This is a load of non sense. They use this sort of excuse to precisely get way with being bad mannered and unconsidered

If you want bad manners and inconsideration, go over to Japan's immediate west neighboring countries.

 Typical bad manners and lack of consideration Japanese often display by going to work or any public place while being sick. The fact that a so-called doctor who should know better is also doing it is even criminal.

Save your hatred and bashing for the china-nese who started this whole thing because of their gluttony and their need to stuff their faces with things like bats, wolf puppies, dogs, snakes, rats, etc.

-8 ( +0 / -8 )

whatever the race no bashing doctors and healthcare workers please. They are our only front line for this outbreak and are risking their own lives too. Respect!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Do Japanese workers get sick-pay? If not then I completely sympathise with them for going to work when not feeling well. People should never be financially worse off for being sick... it isn't 'bad manners'...

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This is a load of non sense.

As far as I am concerned I never heard in Japan, Japanese people stating that attending stuff when ill was bad manner and unconsiderate. And was more than once confronted to the opposite. But if you have proof that I am saying a lot of non sense by stating way things are working in Japan please do so.

He/She was just mentioning the fact that Japans working lifestyle is so bad that it’s expected of workers to go to work even t sick!

No, they was not. The involved comment specifically state that Japanese are showing bad manner and lack of consideration. They are not. They follow the rules and bend by the cultural standard of what is being well-mannered and considerate.

If you think it is bad, attack the rules and cultural standard not the people. And you should logically think of them as victim of it (anybody having any union member in ones friend should be able to state a few fascinating stuff company come up to make sure ill people attend work).

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

The doctor and patient were maybe infected by someone else...the virus is out there, and will spread.

It’s inevitable.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Bottom line is it’s a bad manner by Japanese people to show up at the work even when they are sick! That is simply been inconsiderate towards others but they tend to pretend that they are doing their coworkers a favor by coming to work while being sick! It’s just the expectation of the company’s in Japan that has built this mindset of the Japanese people but if they really want to they can easily change this since labor laws in Japan seem to be getting better recently. So it all comes down to individuals to use their own mind and make better choices!

4 ( +10 / -6 )

@daito... spot on! It’s really problematic that sick people almost always go to work in Japan thus infecting many people along the way ( trains, stations, walkways, office... )!

7 ( +12 / -5 )

That is not a matter of bad manner or lack of consideration in Japan. It is more like the other way round : you should not be stopped by health issue to attend what you said you would. Not going to work is seen as deviant.

This is a load of non sense. They use this sort of excuse to precisely get way with being bad mannered and unconsidered.

2 ( +10 / -8 )

 The fact that a so-called doctor who should know better is also doing it is even criminal.

Happens more often than one may think! I have personally seen doctors continuing to see patients while having the flu themselves.

And yes that is a plural "s".

This doctor will get away with anything "criminal" as he can always claim that pneumonia is not a contagious disease and just having a fever is neither as well!

1 ( +7 / -6 )

Typical bad manners and lack of consideration Japanese often display by going to work or any public place while being sick.

That is not a matter of bad manner or lack of consideration in Japan. It is more like the other way round : you should not be stopped by health issue to attend what you said you would. Not going to work is seen as deviant.

I think people still have to pay to get an attestation that they can not go to work from their doctor.

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

@caliboy

Japanese are not a race, go learn the English language. The whole world is not as PC crazy as young Americans. And yes, hygienically, Japanese are pretty disgusting about washing hands and sneezing. Nobody is perfect.

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Pay attention on the virius, not the doctor.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

The infected doctor had symptoms of fever and fatigue on Jan. 31 and took two days off but worked Feb 3-5 by taking antipyretics. He was diagnosed with pneumonia on Feb 8 and was hospitalized two days later.

Typical bad manners and lack of consideration Japanese often display by going to work or any public place while being sick. The fact that a so-called doctor who should know better is also doing it is even criminal.

4 ( +13 / -9 )

Wakayama Gov Yoshinobu Nisaka said he does not think infections are spreading inside the Saiseikai Arida Hospital in Yuasa, Wakayama Prefecture where the man, a farmer, was briefly hospitalized earlier this month.

Ok, and where does this confidence come from? One doctor probably infected a patient but the spread is not the problem of the hospital but this....

A local government official warned infections could be spreading outside of the medical facility.

Just how DENSE does this official think the public is? The doc gets it, another patient at the hospital gets it, but it's the fault of things outside the facility?

0 ( +9 / -9 )

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