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Tokyo raises alert level amid resurgence in COVID-19 cases

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no

4 ( +17 / -13 )

Oh, no!

-1 ( +10 / -11 )

Not this nonsense again. So 2021. Yawn.

10 ( +40 / -30 )

Had Covid (that I can recall) and possibly more than once but it is so mild that I barely noticed it .

7 ( +32 / -25 )

But today I will have to go out.... need sunscreen, drinking water and shades for temporary shelter!

-2 ( +7 / -9 )

Interesting isn't it. Just recently we heard "don't wear masks, it is time to break free from your face diaper, don't be a sheeple get rid of your masks", and now look at what is happening. Wear your damn mask when it is needed, this virus is not done yet!

-14 ( +24 / -38 )

Fear is a powerful tool in the run-up to an election. Not a peep about deaths or hospitalisation in this article. The heatwave will kill more than covid. Just cool it with the overreaction.

17 ( +41 / -24 )

Mask is here to stay.

I was clutching on the last straw that I can finally ditch my mask and esp with this humidity,then boom...this nonsense comes up.

-5 ( +15 / -20 )

serious question to all the vaccine and mask mandate enthusiasts out there.

If they both work, what's happening?

the entire population is 84% vaccinated, and masking is virtually 100%

Whats happening?

3 ( +30 / -27 )

The highly contagious BA.5 strain of Omicron variant is replacing the BA.2 subvariant in the capital as suspected cases of BA.5 account for about 25 percent of new infections.

US FDA wants COVID boosters targeting Omicron BA.4, BA.5 subvariants

https://news.yahoo.com/fda-recommends-inclusion-ba-4-141856533.html

2 ( +10 / -8 )

I don't know where I'm going but I sure know where I've been, and here I go again.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

stressing the importance of promoting vaccination among young people.

Recently, there is no stats about the age of infected people. So what’s the point to put pressure on the young who mostly do not care. Just because they are less vaccinated.

@master

right

-1 ( +15 / -16 )

Anecdotal evidence here about it being mild. That’s all well and good, but forgets the risk of long covid. Now that’s something you don’t want.

5 ( +27 / -22 )

japan is bankrupt!

COVID is never going away!

open the borders and don’t put foreigners in tour groups like North Korea! Never ending and really boring story!

-7 ( +25 / -32 )

Quasi emergency incoming! Time to open a quasi bar to get them government monies.

1 ( +17 / -16 )

Straight up fearmongering.

Catch me in public transportation, stores, I'll follow the mask requests, but other than that, you'll find me pocketing that thing faster than you can blink.

12 ( +28 / -16 )

Based on what's happening overseas, a wave of the BA.5 strain seems inevitable for Japan.

The strain does not seem deadly enough to justify the measures introduced on previous forms of Covid. However, on purely selfish terms, I hope this means more handouts to businesses and families, because I like free money and could do with some, especially if the border is staying closed to tourists.

-2 ( +12 / -14 )

serious question to all the vaccine and mask mandate enthusiasts out there.

If they both work, what's happening?

the entire population is 84% vaccinated, and masking is virtually 100%

Whats happening?

It is clearly mentioned in the article, more easily spreading variants happened, which reduces the efficacy of previous immunity (including from the infection) to prevent a new infection from these variants, and also make it much more easily contracted even if you are taking precautions.

Masks work together with all other measures reducing the spreading but there is no measure that will guarantee you will be free from infection. Vaccines on the other hand have helped reducing the risk that come from that infection so rates of hospitalization, complication and death are not increasing at the same rate of the infections, demonstrating their value.

-8 ( +18 / -26 )

We've seen the exact same thing elsewhere with the BA4 and BA5 variants as well as waning immunity from the big wave a few months back - all completely as expected and nothing to freak out about. This virus is endemic, it isn't going anywhere, case numbers will continue to go up and down and, all the best with your mask-wearing and social distancing but you will have a better chance of avoiding the flu or the common cold over the longer term.

0 ( +11 / -11 )

It is clearly mentioned in the article, more easily spreading variants happened, which reduces the efficacy of previous immunity (including from the infection) to prevent a new infection from these variants, and also make it much more easily contracted even if you are taking precautions.

Masks work together with all other measures reducing the spreading but there is no measure that will guarantee you will be free from infection. Vaccines on the other hand have helped reducing the risk that come from that infection so rates of hospitalization, complication and death are not increasing at the same rate of the infections, demonstrating their value.

Your patience in constantly re-explaining basic science to the anti science crowd is impressive

3 ( +23 / -20 )

no

No travel for you

Oh, no!

No travel for you

Not this nonsense again. So 2021. Yawn.

No travel for you

-11 ( +4 / -15 )

Good judgment.

-19 ( +3 / -22 )

Mask is no issue for me, I suffer severe kafunsho 6 months of the year, and without mask, I would be a mess.

Personally, I'd say let's get back to normal, if people haven't vaxed by now, it's their own problem.

5 ( +12 / -7 )

That means everyone is going to stay home and out of the transit system and telework to the maximum extent possible right?

Right?

-1 ( +11 / -12 )

Stopped wearing it on the train months ago. Most of us who know this is nonsense, saw this coming. More people will die from wearing their mask because their unable to properly breathe during the hottest summer we’ve had in a long time. 

Mask are at keeping the virus around longer because people keep breathing in their nasty germs from the mask instead of breathing them out of their bodies like their suppose to.

Not only are you anti-factual and lacking in basic cognition, you are anti-social and obtuse to your responsibilities in an interconnected society. The terms actually running through my head would likely be found to be “impolite to other users” and/or “vulgar” so I’ll just keep thinking them.

Masks are shown to reduce infection and maybe THE reason behind the less than expected spread prior to widespread vaccination. And yet you don’t wear one when using public transportation. One can guess what your fellow strap-hangers think of you.

6 ( +19 / -13 )

Anyway, this is never going to end as long as people are getting crammed in trains going to work and school.

Provide more incentives for people to work from home and have students study from home and let teachers also teach from home. This alone would go a long way to curb infections. Otherwise nothing will change.

When it comes to restaurants and bars, allow for more outdoor dining and private rooms 個室 to mitigate spread. These are some really simple basic and rudimentary steps the gov can take to curb spread. But when you have leaders born with a silver spoons in their mouths don't expect much of anything.

No one knows how much worse this will get in winter. Viruses thrive in cold weather and during this pandemic we saw mutations in the virus resurge at that time. We are not out of the woods yet. But I don't think the answer is to keep masking up in this heat because it is insane. 40 degrees now and I shudder to think of how hot it will be in a month or so. Working and studying from home is the answer.

-3 ( +14 / -17 )

Looking forward to the Omichron-specific boosters on the horizon.

-6 ( +7 / -13 )

Keep the mask off and move on! It’s to hot to be wearing them and more people will die as a result. You need to properly breathe folks!

Japan needs to move in and open those borders completely up!

4 ( +22 / -18 )

That means everyone is going to stay home and out of the transit system and telework to the maximum extent possible right?

Right?

That's what they SHOULD be doing but unfortunately, this is Japan. Their whole response to this pandemic is keep the border closed except for N. Korea style tours for "Foreigners" from Hawaii AND international events.

That's it. In a nutshell

-3 ( +18 / -21 )

The Covid virus is being puffed up like a hot air balloon.

The focus is on the number of cases.as if they matters.

Relevancy to our lives is extremely marginal.

Why isn’t the focus elsewhere?

The number of deaths?

The number of hospital admissions?

Well, for those figures aren’t enough, are they?

Certain individuals have been vaccinated up to 6 times and still become infected.

Its a massive scam!

-1 ( +16 / -17 )

That's another year added onto independent travellers being barred from Japan.....

Postpone your trips again for the foreseeable future (Japan, maybe, just maybe will start to discuss the possibility of allowing independent travellers into the country by the end of 2024....)

0 ( +10 / -10 )

eyeroll * Come on now. This again? Honestly. The number of Covid cases will continue to fluctuate until it's run its course or the population has achieve optimal herd immunity. Doesn't mean we all need to get our knickers in a wad. Majority of people have been tripled vaccinated right? And up to 99% of people in Japan are still continuing to wear masks despite the despicably hot weather so why are they still caterwauling about this?
3 ( +16 / -13 )

I've noticed that for the last few days, JT has not been reporting the COVID numbers.

Is there any reason for that?

Moderator: Japan Today has been reporting the numbers every day.

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

Anybody who takes the vaccine because he or she thinks that the vaccine will help to prevent or stop the spread of the virus, these people didn't learn anything during the last 2 years.

If you want to make your risk lower to get hospitalized or die from the virus, then yes, take the vaccine.

But do not think that the vaccine will help or do stop the spread of the virus and makes the numbers of cases decrease.

Everywhere in the world, even in countries with a high vaccination rate, the cases are increasing daily.

And always bringing up new variants is just an excuse.

The only thing that real helps to prevent the spread of the virus is social distance. But yeah, in full packed trains and offices, many companies stopped already work from home, social distance is a big challenge.

So Japan is not different than any other country. High vaccination rate or not, as long there is a close distance between people, the virus will jump from each person to another.

To prevent the spread of the virus, Number 1 is social distance, Number 2 is wearing a mask.

The vaccine, I would put it at the end of a list of all preventions against spreading the virus.

3 ( +16 / -13 )

Covid is not going anywhere anytime soon. If zero cases is what people want then that isn’t gonna happen. It’s probably a good idea to let the vaccine do it’s job before it wears off. People don’t keep their kids locked up and masked after they had their polio, measles etc vaccines.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

WoW, am so glad Australia moved on, dropped almost all requirents and opened up.

I wish Japan would do the same.

11 ( +21 / -10 )

Experts attending a monitoring meeting of the metropolitan government made the decision and warned that the virus is spreading again, stressing the importance of promoting vaccination among young people.

But young people aren't really affected so it's a waste of time.

6 ( +14 / -8 )

It would seem like they're just monitoring the common cold now or even a flu strain. We just accepted it before Covid-19. No lockdowns. Just people making their own decisions. Travelling freely. We need to move past this as a society. This can't continue for ever. Sad, but I predict we'll be in the same situation next year. Daily Covid case counts and still far fewer hospitalizations and deaths compared to a nasty flu epidemic.

11 ( +16 / -5 )

SOE SOE SOE!!! Stay home stay home! Work from home! Work from home!!!

-17 ( +3 / -20 )

The government, and indeed a lot of people around the world, would do well to study the story “The Boy Who Called Wolf”.

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Cancel that ticket you bought

-9 ( +6 / -15 )

Over this nonsense now!!

11 ( +15 / -4 )

Reasons I left Japan.

the country of Covid hystria and their obsession with SAFE.

1 ( +16 / -15 )

serious question to all the vaccine and mask mandate enthusiasts out there.

If they both work, what's happening?

the entire population is 84% vaccinated, and masking is virtually 100%

Whats happening?

its evidence that mask wearing does not work,vaccinations does not work.as simple as is.

build your own immunity,eat well,drink well/especially these hot days,sleep well,dont be overstressed and dont trust mainstream "news" 100%.virus is reality,is here and will stay fo a while,once will find you you will be ready for fight.another thing to mention-gov spent tons of cash again for 4th vaccine so they need be used so now new summer campaign "get no 4 vaccine" will start...so yes all of you be ready for new brain massage again.

5 ( +16 / -11 )

They'll close the border again if the numbers continue to rise. Japan will make the foreigner arrival a reason for the increase.

0 ( +10 / -10 )

Might be an idea to change up the vaccine this time. We have had 3 Pfizer...

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Anybody who takes the vaccine because he or she thinks that the vaccine will help to prevent or stop the spread of the virus, these people didn't learn anything during the last 2 years.

The experts have repeatedly demonstrated vaccines do help preventing or decreasing the spread of the virus. Someone on the internet saying they are all wrong is not enough to actually demonstrate it.

But do not think that the vaccine will help or do stop the spread of the virus and makes the numbers of cases decrease.

Why not? it do help, specially when used togheter with other measures.

Everywhere in the world, even in countries with a high vaccination rate, the cases are increasing daily.

Everywhere in the world even in countries where it is obligatory to wear seatbelts and have aribags, drivers die in traffic accidents daily. According to your faulty logic that means they are useless.

To prevent the spread of the virus, Number 1 is social distance, Number 2 is wearing a mask.

The vaccine, I would put it at the end of a list of all preventions against spreading the virus.

Based on exactly what data would you put vaccines at the end? The experts of the world do mention the vaccines as a very useful tool to slow the spread. How can you prove them wrong?

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html

*"Getting vaccinated is the BEST way to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19."*

If they both work, what's happening?

Again, as the last time this was asked, variants are happening, that not only are more easily transmitted, also make previous immunity of all kinds less effective.

its evidence that mask wearing does not work,vaccinations does not work.as simple as is.

No, it is evidence of variants of high transmissibility. The important reduction of risk after infection evidence precisely that vaccines work as intended.

-5 ( +11 / -16 )

Eastman - I am certainly in the take the mask-off /get back to “normal” asap camp, but that is only possible because the vaccine has been a tremendous success.

You are right that looking after your health is important, but you should perhaps recognize the purpose and benefit of the vaccine is exactly to build our immune system.

-7 ( +3 / -10 )

News Flash

hottest day of the Year!

take off the frigging mask and breathe!

14 ( +18 / -4 )

Quasi or full State of Emergency coming in a month. Some people laughed at me for suggesting they would do another one, but believe me, they will. They can't help themselves.

-2 ( +9 / -11 )

Eastman - I am certainly in the take the mask-off /get back to “normal” asap camp, but that is only possible because the vaccine has been a tremendous success.well I know a few people personally who cant say so as there are vaccinated by 3 shots and guess what-still get infected by covid and in some cases it was not so pleasant situation so yes-I cant agree with that "tremendous success".even some previously healthy people,sport loving people,healthy lifestyle people have died because of some "sudden heart failure"...I am not going to make some conspirations here anyway but better be reasonable and say that vaccine is to magic or some "freedom" as is painted in media.

You are right that looking after your health is important, but you should perhaps recognize the purpose and benefit of the vaccine is exactly to build our immune system.again I am sorry but best protection is to build your own immunity natural way without any vaccines etc.body dont need to be part of some experiment to be ok.its solely my opinion and so far works well here,all of my family doing that,no one from us vaccinated even once and yes-no one from us get infected as well/we did not see doctor for years/.but yes again-if you believe that vaccine will build your immunity better/and without any side effects/its your choice,take your risks and beneficts/if any/ and line in for 4th.5th or even 10th vaccine...we will be happy to leave you ours and save your life!at the end its paid even from my taxes anyway...

-1 ( +9 / -10 )

It would seem like they're just monitoring the common cold now or even a flu strain. We just accepted it before Covid-19.

Exactly, the difference now is that they are reporting the PCR positives, most of whom are probably not even sick.

4 ( +12 / -8 )

The vaccines are ineffective against a rapidly mutating virus which even the big pharmaceutical giants are now admitting.

So, all those booster shots, never designed to be effective against new strains have….not been-now we know.

2 ( +11 / -9 )

Aly RustomToday  08:43 am JST

Working and studying from home is the answer.

Maybe for the office wallahs but for those who actually make and/or repair things, homeworking is not an option.

11 ( +13 / -2 )

I'll just go to Thailand, maybe I'll see you in the beach in Okinawa, in about ten years

2 ( +9 / -7 )

Maybe for the office wallahs but for those who actually make and/or repair things, homeworking is not an option.

Yes but for those that CAN, if they do WFH, they will STILL decrease the rate of contagion, which will be good for EVERYONE.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

daito_hak

Basic science? Always funny to see people having no background in science speaking and commenting about science.

Look who's talking? You a scientist?

-5 ( +10 / -15 )

Aly RustomToday  11:03 am JST

Maybe for the office wallahs but for those who actually make and/or repair things, homeworking is not an option.

Yes but for those that CAN, if they do WFH, they will STILL decrease the rate of contagion, which will be good for EVERYONE.

Yes, so, a partial answer rather than "the" answer?

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Yes, so, a partial answer rather than "the" answer?

NO. It is the answer- Unless YOUR idea of an answer is a complete shutdown.

-4 ( +7 / -11 )

Working, teaching and studying from home is the answer not only for those who can do it but also for those who can't because it decreases the rate of infection for EVERYONE.

-3 ( +6 / -9 )

It's just pathetic that this is still what the government is doing a year after most people already got vaccinated against this.

It's like every day is still March of 2020, nothing has changed, our understanding of the virus hasn't changed, no one has immunity, there is no treatment

Weren't those the reasons why people freaked out back then?

So what are the reasons now?

If even back then it was a lot of irrational fear, at least there were actual reasons to be afraid. Right now it is nothing but irrational fear.

-2 ( +9 / -11 )

 vaccination is not effective at stopping infection therefore there isn't such thing as herd immunity with the vaccines. 

i never read anywhere that the vaccine would stop infection, what it does do is drastically reduce long covid, deaths. many people will still get covid vaccinated but their risk of dying and long term heath effects are greatly diminished, statistics from around the world is showing exactly that. nobody is forcing you to get vaccinated, there are no mandatory vaccinations in japan. Yes Japan is adverse to risk and their slow reopening is annoying, but of you live here then youve got to accept that or leave

4 ( +11 / -7 )

Meh! I don't care. I don't understand the irrational fear, the virus is not new anymore. It's becoming as common as a regular cold and we've got medicine available. I think most people in the world are gone forever, the mass psychosis is incurable at this point and, of course, governments are loving this.

Wear your damn mask when it is needed, this virus is not done yet!

No, I'm fine, thanks.

-2 ( +12 / -14 )

I am sorry but best protection is to build your own immunity natural way without any vaccines etc.body dont need to be part of some experiment to be ok

That is still completely incorrect, running all the risks from the infection so you can avoid those risks is not a logical solution, vaccines are better because they let you develop a comparable degree of protection without the risks of the natural infection.

And if you consider immunizing people and protecting them from those risks an experiment, that means unvaccinated people are also part of it, they are just the higher-risk control group that is used to evaluate how much of a benefit the vaccines provide.

2 ( +12 / -10 )

Can you demonstrate anything of this? because baseless speculations are not an argument, how do you know what expertise or background other people have? guessing? divinating?

How about addressing the arguments instead of focusing on the people that disproved what you believe?

For f sake, this is the dude who was arguing with me that the virus won't become endemic and that everything should be done to make it disappear. 

Can you put a reference for this? because your misrepresentation is completely off the mark, (almost as much as when you criticized the term "escape mutants" as if it was wrong).

You said based on nothing at all, that the only possibility at the beginning of the pandemic was that the virus would become endemic, and that was completely false at the time, eradication was still a possibility then, before the appearance of variants. The same with herd immunity, that obviously do not mean what you think it means.

When you reduce yourself to misrepresent what other people say just so you can become "right" you are implicitly recognizing you were wrong from the beginning, because you make obvious that if you addressed the actual arguments you would still be demonstrated wrong so you have to twist them until you can finally debunk something nobody ever said.

virusrex- VERY well said.

-8 ( +9 / -17 )

Time for everyone to just get one with their lives, it’s endemic now. This Covid lark has gone on enough now, produced fear, causing mental illness in many and caused untold other health issues like increased obesity. Children have suffered greatly from lack of interaction with their friends and being forced to wear masks. Outside the majority are wearing masks in temperatures of up to 40C, totally bizarre and dangerous .

The fearful and idle play the victim hood card wonderfully. We even see comments here wanting kids to do remote lessons, yeah, great, from a teacher I guess. Never mind how essential social Intercourse and interaction is to the young, better to stay indoors and chill out than making the effort to get into work.

In the US we even see babies and toddlers having three vaccines over two months for a variant that no longer causes an issue. Plenty of money being made by a certain section of society over the last two years, the transfer of wealth to the top 1% has been the greatest ever.

2 ( +13 / -11 )

No, I’m fine thanks

I remember you told us you wear a mask with your customers. Have you stopped doing that now?

I remember being in awe at your principled stand against mask wearing.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Japan Inc will simply go Out of Business at this rate.

I wonder how many businesses went bankrupt as a result of this

1 ( +8 / -7 )

The longer this goes on, the further Japan sinks into the quagmire of international irrelevance.

1 ( +9 / -8 )

Just gotta keep on wearing my mask, drive everywhere (good thing my Tesla is charged with Solar). Avoid crowded places and get outside.

it will be interesting to see if any restrictions to restaurants goes into effect. We get take out or cook at home.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

How can this be? I thought Japanese people were immune?

-2 ( +7 / -9 )

I remember you told us you wear a mask with your customers. Have you stopped doing that now?

Mask are optional at my business. There is a sign at the entrance that explains the policy, I started doing it after a local dentist office started doing the same. I no longer visit clients' premises, I have one of the girls doing that so I don't have to wear one. I only wear them as chin guards on planes and the Shinkansen. I stopped doing it in shops and local trains.

-6 ( +5 / -11 )

n the US we even see babies and toddlers having three vaccines over two months for a variant that no longer causes an issue. Plenty of money being made by a certain section of society over the last two years, the transfer of wealth to the top 1% has been the greatest ever.

Falseflagsteve - VERY WELL SAID. BEST COMMENT OF THE ENTIRE WEEK.

0 ( +7 / -7 )

the same cut-and-paste response for 2 and a half years with no data to back up the claims and no data to explain the real world failure.

If the same information is enough to debunk your argument what is the need to look for new one? Huge reductions on death rates, increase of cases AFTER a variant enters a territory are trivially easy to get.

Are you arguing you ignore these things? if you are then you can ask for this well known information, but why would you try to defend an opinion that is based on ignoring these very basic things?

n the US we even see babies and toddlers having three vaccines over two months for a variant that no longer causes an issue.

Omicron still keeps killing people, and making them deal with long lasting health problems even if they survive. It betrays a huge lack of empathy to consider these lost lives "not an issue" because the victims and their families (and the health care professionals that work to prevent more from happening) clearly disagree with you. Just try to search for the average amount of money anybody on the US spends in a covid hospitalization, even symptomatic treatment at home is more expensive than a vaccine. If making money were the purpose opposing vaccines, masks or any other measure that helps reducing transmission would be precisely what would fulfill that purpose.

1 ( +10 / -9 )

Simple way to get more people vaccinated, whoever got an invitation for a vaccination but didn’t show up and gets sick needs to pay 100% of medical costs and gets no sick money while off from work, guess we would be at 90-95% in a jiffy

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

Aly RustomToday  11:26 am JST

Working, teaching and studying from home is the answer not only for those who can do it but also for those who can't because it decreases the rate of infection for EVERYONE.

How can it be the answer for those who can't? That's ludicrous. How about all those bus, train and taxi drivers; garage mechanics; retail staff: distribution/wholesale staff to name but a few. How are they going to work from home? Do you support a full on Chinese style lockdown where people are forced to stay in their homes by armed guards?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

It is clearly mentioned in the article, more easily spreading variants happened, which reduces the efficacy of previous immunity (including from the infection) to prevent a new infection from these variants, and also make it much more easily contracted even if you are taking precautions.

Masks work together with all other measures reducing the spreading but there is no measure that will guarantee you will be free from infection. Vaccines on the other hand have helped reducing the risk that come from that infection so rates of hospitalization, complication and death are not increasing at the same rate of the infections, demonstrating their value.

VirusRex, even though you're consistently downvoted, I want to express my appreciation for your posts which have been consistently correct and sensible.

I can't help but wonder to think.. you're posts are down voted by the majority of people here. Do they represent the majority of people out there? If so, are the majority of people against masks? If so, is that why we're still in this pandemic and BA5 is becoming dominant now?

0 ( +6 / -6 )

How can it be the answer for those who can't? That's ludicrous.

BECAUSE when OTHERS WFH then those that can't ALSO benefit with trains being less crowded and so forth.

How about all those bus, train and taxi drivers; garage mechanics; retail staff: distribution/wholesale staff to name but a few. How are they going to work from home?

They're not. But they are going to benefit from living in a society taking appropriate but not extreme measures to curb the virus. Get it yet?

Do you support a full on Chinese style lockdown where people are forced to stay in their homes by armed guards?

No. Do YOU?

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

Mask are optional at my business. There is a sign at the entrance that explains the policy, I started doing it after a local dentist office started doing the same. I no longer visit clients' premises, I have one of the girls doing that so I don't have to wear one. I only wear them as chin guards on planes and the Shinkansen. I stopped doing it in shops and local trains.

I will never support your business. As someone with a chronic illness and an immune system that doesn't work, I rely on people to wear masks on local trains.

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

Really…. It’s not going anywhere we just need to live with it and yes I’ve had it. The mad mask wearing is just that pure madness add 30+ degrees and it beyond madness but I can’t write those words here.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Japan has been over 80% vaccinated for over 7 months and the cases and deaths are higher. The vaccines don't seem to be doing their job.

-2 ( +6 / -8 )

It’s perfectly acceptable to train kids to death every summer with no repercussions, but god forbid showing your face in public.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Next Article: "Japan raises alert level after international travel resumes".

0 ( +3 / -3 )

As soon as everybody realize that they will get the corona no matter what, this madness will stop. Immuno compromised or not, mask or no mask, vaccine or no vaccine, YOU will get it.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

As soon as everybody realize that they will get the corona no matter what, this madness will stop. Immuno compromised or not, mask or no mask, vaccine or no vaccine, YOU will get it.

there seems to be a percentage of people that don’t develop infection even after exposure, but aside from those people, I think you are right. Everybody catches a cold at some point, everybody catches the flu at some point so why on earth won’t everybody catch a virus that spreads in the same as those two but 10 times faster?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Another wave is coming!

MontyToday  09:12 am JST

Anybody who takes the vaccine because he or she thinks that the vaccine will help to prevent or stop the spread of the virus, these people didn't learn anything during the last 2 years.  . . .

The only thing that real helps to prevent the spread of the virus is social distance.

Monty, you are exactly right, and the CDC performed a study and came to the same conclusion about social distancing.

Which makes such obvious sense. If you do not become infected, then there is nothing you can spread.

Some posters here herald the vaccines as slowing the spread.

That's an illogical approach though. It is better to never get infected, than to get infected later.

China is proof of the success of social distancing. Watch any recent video on YouTube on China and you will see crowds of people out and about without masks. Because they social distanced, and there are no infections in their community.

China learned that slowing infections is not the best medical approach.

Stopping the infections is the best.

-11 ( +1 / -12 )

Monty, you are exactly right, and the CDC performed a study and came to the same conclusion about social distancing.

You mean the CDC that explicitly, literally says vaccines are the best way to reduce transmission? they completely contradict you.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html

"Getting vaccinated is the BEST way to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19."

Why do you feel the need of misrepresent the position of the CDC?

Which makes such obvious sense. If you do not become infected, then there is nothing you can spread.

If the measures needed for people not to become infected mean higher deaths produced than those prevented this is still not a solution, it is at much part of the problem. That is why vaccination is the best way to reduce transmission, because the benefits obtained by vaccination greatly outweigh the costs, that is not something that can be said currently of measures like lockdowns for example that are more damaging than productive, not to mention terribly ineffective.

China is proof of the success of social distancing

More like an example of the extent an autocracy has to reach to compensate for its failures, this obviously include crushing the human rights of their peeople instead of vaccinating them, but also includes hiding the real number of deaths as well. If anything they demonstrate that focusing exclusively in preventing infections is very far from being the best approach.

-1 ( +6 / -7 )

As I have said many times Covid is not going ANYWHERE! Get use to it, you can hope it will go away but it will not. You can't kill a virus!!!

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Quote from above: "The strain does not seem deadly enough to justify the measures introduced on previous forms of Covid." So how undeadly enough should it be we feel safe? Anyone have a gauge for undeadliness?

And how undead do you need to be for you give up your social activities?

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

That is still completely incorrect, running all the risks from the infection so you can avoid those risks is not a logical solution, vaccines are better because they let you develop a comparable degree of protection without the risks of the natural infection.

Vaccinated people, as well as UN-vaccinated people, have the same chance of catching covid. Live your life and be responsible. No risk no reward.

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Experts attending a monitoring meeting of the metropolitan government made the decision and warned that the virus is spreading again, stressing the importance of promoting vaccination among young people.

These "experts"' advice contrasts with that of the CDC, which maintains that the best way to stop the virus from spreading is ---surprise!---to not get infected in the first place.

This is also pure common sense, and if you do the math you can see if people do not become infected, then they do not spread the virus.

Novel idea, and actually Japan had the right idea at the beginning of the crisis, but somehow lost its way and the reliance on the vaccines is just promoting a slow but steady increase in infections and ultimately, Covid-related deaths, as global experts note.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

These "experts"' advice contrasts with that of the CDC, which maintains that the best way to stop the virus from spreading is ---surprise!---to not get infected in the first place.

That is mistaken, according to the CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html

*Getting vaccinated is the BEST way to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.*

Not getting infected can be an impractical or even counterproductive goal to have if that requires producing extra deaths from, for example, limiting access to health services to do it.

Novel idea, and actually Japan had the right idea at the beginning of the crisis, but somehow lost its way and the reliance on the vaccines is just promoting a slow but steady increase in infections and ultimately, Covid-related deaths, as global experts note.

Experts without any names and that you can never reference are not an argument, this would only be an invalid appeal to some supposed authority.

By now even China with its unsustainable zero covid policy is finally giving up and slowly (but surely) switching to a "living with covid" approach.

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3184043/china-tiptoes-towards-living-covid-19-under-evolving-dynamic

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Vaccinated people, as well as UN-vaccinated people, have the same chance of catching covid. Live your life and be responsible. No risk no reward.

That is demonstrably false, even the infection rate is reduced by vaccination, the symptomatic disease (covid) much more. If you can get the reward for less risk there is no point in having the full risks both for you and for the people you are in contact with.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Wrong.

You are just trying to change the issue to argue what you want to argue.

The CDC is literally quoted there completely contradicting what you said, so can you prove the CDC is wrong?

Well, at least you have proven you are not a medical professional.

No such a thing, this is a perfectly valid argument why medical and scientific professionals are not supporting the zero covid policy, pretending all the international experts of the world are fake because you don't like their professional opinions is not a rational argument.

What does unsustainable mean to you? 

Not to me, to the global authority in public health matters the WHO.

A strategy that after more than 2 years resulted in much fewer infections and related deaths, according to global experts?

A strategy that could have been replaced with better ones, and that it is being done so right now, because if not the only option is to keep an endless cycles of lockdowns while the rest of the world have mostly infections without a similar increase of hospitalizations and deaths.

And your source is . . .none.

The source has already been provided, and you can't pretend not to read it because you already discussed it.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html

Getting vaccinated is the **BEST **way to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

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