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Tokyo reports 39 new coronavirus cases; lowest in 4 weeks

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Great news to hear.

Proof that either Japanese social distancing worked well enough, or just an example of herd immunity. Let us all get back to opening up the economy around the world!

-22 ( +32 / -54 )

I don’t like Koike but in this specific case I must agree with her,the numbers on a Monday are low due to the fewer tests.

Furthermore this statistic won’t show the the situation in the whole country.

Let’s see how this week will go and hope for the best.

26 ( +33 / -7 )

This sounds promising. And whatever any of you may think of Abe, he has more sense than to tweet his supporters to go out and 'protest', endangering themselves and others.

Kudos to Japan on their progress thru this ordeal.

Let’s see how this week will go and hope for the best.

Amen.

-3 ( +19 / -22 )

unless the numbers are being fudged, 39 cases is a lot lower than 100 and 300 deaths is a lot lower than 45,000 so at least something is good about the response here. That is IF the numbers are correctly reported... Big if

9 ( +16 / -7 )

Its better news. Yes, we know Mondays figures have been low due to weekend testing. We know not enough tests are being performed. So - Before our normal doomsday posters turn up - I get it. But let's hope you can be a little less hysterical today. Even with these 'massaged' numbers (to be polite) we are quite clearly not on the same road as NYC as it stands. Be thankful for that for the moment.

Its up to all of us to stay vigilant and sensible - no more than that.

Yes - the number published this afternoon will probably be closer to 100. To be expected.

1 ( +13 / -12 )

Hats off to the people of Japan. Let's all keep up the efforts and show the world how it's done. This is a time that I am happy to say that I was wrong in previous posts.

Now let's get some financial backing to the hard working taxpayers (in need) so that we can do away with this China Virus once and for all.

-6 ( +17 / -23 )

Head of Yamanashi Univ claims drop in C19 numbers an embarrassment, due to testing facilities not operating on weekends “like a developing country”「100人切った」で喜ぶな!感染者数が日曜に下がるのは「途上国並み」「日本の恥」と大学長が問題提起 (水島宏明)。

17 ( +26 / -9 )

This is indeed good news. But let's not get complacent and let our guard down just yet. We need to continue this trend for a couple of more weeks or more before we're out of the woods.

-1 ( +10 / -11 )

If any of you believe this number then good luck to you. It is as factual as the tooth fairy. Up her in Aomori a nurse has tested positive for the virus, but the the powers that be have decided they don't need to test her husband or 12 co-workers for the virus! Why the hell not? Unless they are afraid the numbers will climb. How unbelievably irresponsible by the medical professionals.

23 ( +34 / -11 )

Numbers were dropping before the weekend so hopefully they will continue to drop. Lets hope people don't go out too much over Golden Week then things will only improve and life can start to return to normal.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Next question, May 3rd is next week, will the "emergency" be lifted or will it stay in place?

Lift it, and everyone and their mother is going "out", keep it in place and listen to the booing start too.

So what's it going to be Abe?

7 ( +8 / -1 )

While the numbers may not be entirely accurate, they are a lot lower than we would expect, even in Japan. This must be positive news. However, let's give it a few more days and see what happens before reversing the controls.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

I hope and believe the 'lockdown light' / State of Emergency will be extended out to June 7th shortly - just to be clear where I stand on this. Its funny being thumbed down below for refusing to be hysterical or optimistic!

4 ( +10 / -6 )

Markx

If any of you believe this number then good luck to you. It is as factual as the tooth fairy.

I am somewhat skeptical as well. I work for a testing lab, and we are seeing as high as 20% infection rate, so this number may be doctored. But let's see what the numbers are like today and tomorrow, and after GW.

12 ( +19 / -7 )

quercetumToday

Head of Yamanashi Univ claims drop in C19 numbers an embarrassment, due to testing facilities not operating on weekends “like a developing country”「100人切った」で喜ぶな!感染者数が日曜に下がるのは「途上国並み」「日本の恥」と大学長が問題提起 (水島宏明)。

I have been saying this for weeks now, but people down vote me and call me a fear monger. The numbers on weekends are artificially low. Look at the number for last 5 Sundays. They have been fairly low, then they spike during the week. That's why I said that 37 is really good for a Monday, but let's not let our guard down.

14 ( +22 / -8 )

April 21st: 7826 tests

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_10965.html

April 25th: 5854 tests

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_11043.html

April 27th: 1618 test

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_11070.html

yeah, we are getting better...

13 ( +17 / -4 )

Great news for Tokyo and Japan, well done.

But Noticed that the mostly government funded NHK is the most trusted source of information we got??!

Now this is the same source that told us that every thing was FINE prior to the Olympics Cancellation, and turned out to be a LIE, my gut feeling tells me we need at least 2 more Independent sources which is very hard to find these days.

2 ( +9 / -7 )

I am actually surprised that the headline didn't have a caveat in it. Give props to JT where they deserve it.

So now when the news looks positive and things are going in the right direction, there are always those who claim the week-to-week numbers are not accurate.

Of course the number of cases are under-reported. But the trend looks to be positive since they are testing the same or more amount of people.

The government has always said that a 70-80% reduction in social interaction would bring the R0 number (transmission rate multiplier) to 1.

Total lock-down is not going to happen in Japan. I tend to be optimistic and feel that most people get it.

2 ( +8 / -6 )

It looks like Japan is doing much better than America. But I’m sure people will continue to say, let’s do what they are doing in America.

-9 ( +6 / -15 )

@oldman_13Today  06:44 am JST

“Great news to hear.”

in a rush to be first poster? I suggest you read the article again, especially this part.

“But Koike stressed at a video conference that the situation offered no grounds for optimism, saying that the number was usually low on Mondays as fewer test samples are brought in. "We can't let our guard down," she said.

Hokkaido University professor Hiroshi Nishiura, one of the infectious disease experts guiding the government's response to the outbreak, told the conference the pace of decline had been slow.”

8 ( +13 / -5 )

"With no information of how many tests done,"

Test, test and more tests; all this nonsensical insistence on testing.

Testing is not a Panacea.

Even if your test is positive the ONLY thing they'll do is remand you in quarantine. Nothing more, nothing less.

In Britain, you are NOT tested, unless you're showing clear signs of contamination/been around someone already contaminated.

A very good friend of mine just returned to work (26/04/20) after a bout of Covid-19.

His story:

Wasn't feeling well at all, got swabbed; proved positive for Covid.

He was sent home and ordered to remain in quarantine.

Following expiration of the 14 day period, (during which he almost died in his own bed due to difficulties in breathing), come back to work for another test.

2 swab tests later he was declared "cured" and ordered to report for work.

I then asked:

What? No ventilator, no treatment of any kind?

Answer:

Nope! You only get the ventilator treatment once you're really messed up, i.e. when you can't breathe properly.

To put it into English, you're suffocating.

Other than that, all they do is send you home and hope for the best. If your breathing deteriorates you'd better have someone at home to dial 999 so that they come and put you on a ventilator. Otherwise you're brown bread.

That's it folks.

It's kind of amusing to read all this "test, test, test" business by people who don't know how Covid is actually dealt with in the real World. Unlike the fantasies of so many on this site.

-10 ( +9 / -19 )

So for some reason with little effort cases are slowing down? How? How many were tested and how many people have built up antibodies, what protection methods are in place? Where are the hotspots, how do we determine who’s at risk or who has it or who is asymptomatic? So vague on the answers, little detailed information. As long as the government is not pushing and forcing a nationwide crack down and clear all the stores and put restrictions and limits, instead of having everyone congregate in the supermarket of all ages you never going to alleviate the problem or even slow down.

-2 ( +7 / -9 )

HEADLINE:

“Less weekend testing leads to less confirmed cases”

that is what Japan is doing different than other countries.

12 ( +15 / -3 )

Hey abe, HOW THE HELL are people & companies etc supposed to plan for things if your going to wait until we are in the middle of my namesake, GW, to decide of the situation remains as is or is lifted......nuts.

But hey, not surprised here, thankfully myself & my workmates  have decided on our OWN what we will be doing, sure not going to look to govt for leadership!!!          SADLY!

5 ( +6 / -1 )

According to Tokyo COVID-17 information published by Tokyo, the number of confirmed cases par day are decreased from 103 to 39 for the last 3 days. Actually the case includes the cases of the people who used health insurance. As the number of test conducted of weekend (April 24 - April 26) which is covered by health insurance may be updated and adjusted on this coming Friday, we are able to see more accurate positive rate on this Friday.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@MarkXToday  07:28 am JST

If any of you believe this number then good luck to you. It is as factual as the tooth fairy. Up her in Aomori a nurse has tested positive for the virus, but the the powers that be have decided they don't need to test her husband or 12 co-workers for the virus!

same thing here in Kobe a Dr in a very central 4th floor (above a supermarket) practice has tested positive yet everything continues as usual, why cos it’s a business. Both the clinic and the Country

6 ( +8 / -2 )

oldman_13:

Proof that either Japanese social distancing worked well enough, or just an example of herd immunity. Let us all get back to opening up the economy around the world!

What social distancing? Every time I'm in the supermarket, I see the obaasans crowding around the deli section, and when they walk to the cashier, suddenly there's a short-lived awareness of social distancing, until they've paid and then back to business.

Herd immunity? Then there should have been a lot more people hospitalized. Just what planet are you living on?

7 ( +12 / -5 )

While the numbers reflect just the testing rate, it is for sure not the doomsday scenario that some posters here insinuate. The number of deaths would be more informative though.

I hope after GW the government will relax the emergency state, while maintaining restrictions on social distancing. Companies can enforce teleworking, and where not possible, rotating shifts to minimize close contact. Restaurants, sport clubs could also practice social distancing by limiting the number of customers and spacing tables/facilities.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Great news, but it could have been avoided all the same, considering SARS, MERS all originated from the same source before introduced to Japan, but yet the Administration failed to heed early warning signs to shut the country down in the first place, especially after clearly exposed that there was a problem by the mass media. Perhaps next time? time will tell. Thank you JT for the information provided to us.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Praise Japanese for their efforts (the people not J-Gov) and people disagree.

Complain about people not making an effort and people disagree.

Guess you can't please everyone.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

How many did you test?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

As Koike said these are numbers for the weekend so they will be low.

However they are considerably down from the same day last week and the weeks before that.

Stay indoors folks , a few more weeks of self-discipline and we should be over it.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

It's hard to know just what this means. Fingers crossed it is good news. But as long as minimal tests are being conducted, who knows what the real numbers are?

5 ( +5 / -0 )

or just an example of herd immunity. 

Which heard immunity are you talking about? This would require at least that 60% of the population should have been infected by the virus (since no vaccin is available and people need to be infected to get immune). Are you saying that 60% of the population in Japan have been infected? I don't think so.

Tokyo reports 39 new coronavirus cases; lowest in 4 weeks

I am tired that the Japanese authorities are playing the population for a fool by coming up with numbers that contradict the message that they are telling to people. Either they decide to test in mass in order to better know the spread of the virus or they just stop coming up with meaningless numbers like this one (this number is just the number of people showing up with symptoms which were judged enough to mandate a test). Because otherwise they just should let people live their life and stop annoying us with this "stay home" thing.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

Right on @starpunk! And if the numbers do go down, we can reference these two days, as when it all began to go down in terms of new cases.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japan as a whole has 13,504 confirmed cases and 377 deaths, public broadcaster NHK said. In Tokyo, 3,947 cases in total have been confirmed.

I have argued that the number of seriously ill patients, its ups and downs overtime, are the most significant to see the current status and future outlook. Unfortunately, such info is somehow missing in most daily briefings. Accumulative numbers are history.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Proof that either Japanese social distancing worked well enough, or just an example of herd immunity

Logic failure of massive proportions. The article specifically stated numbers are always lower on Monday’s because of limited weekend testing.

The supermarkets and convenience stores have people one meter apart when waiting in line instead of the two meters necessary to limit transmission. Additionally, there is no way to keep two meters between you and others on the trains or buses.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

@timeon that’s actually a very good and well rounded strategy. Which is funny, because me and my family were talking about it earlier today. Hopefully, something like that will be implemented. Fingers crossed

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Numbers have been on the lower trend for the last week, and there is no doubt it is getting better. And no matter the number of tests, a trend is a trend. Authorities do keep a pessimistic approach because they do not want the citizens to move around during Golden Week. For the sure, as long as the number is not zero for two weeks, the risk will be here, but for a city of 13 millions like Tokyo, sorry to say that, numbers have kept very low.

Media should stop mentioning the accumulate number of infected persons. This has been the total number for the past 4 months now and it is misleading. Many have already recovered. Giving the actual number of still infected patients will make much more sense.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Great news.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

When Japan reports lowering daily rates of coronavirus infection, it's because the 'corrupt' Japanese government is fudging the numbers, or it's because officials are deliberately not testing enough people to show the 'true' numbers, and things of that nature.

When any other country but Japan reports lowering daily rates of coronavirus infection, it's because the social distancing and shelter in place mandates worked, officials are on top of their game in stopping the spread of coronavirus, and things of that nature.

Double standards as always.

-10 ( +4 / -14 )

Figures were previously fudged in an attempt to prevent Olympics being cancelled and the same expediency will fudge the figures again to lift the state of emergency which is causing lasting economic damage. It would be amazing if the figures were going down so quickly because compared to the rest of the world Japan has done very little to combat the virus. Here most shops are open and there are still a lot of people on the streets but great to see so many enjoying the beautiful weather and nature in the mountains, forest, lakes and not one silly phone in site.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

39 cases... but from how many new test? 50? 100? 10000?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

 it's because officials are deliberately not testing enough people to show the 'true' numbers, and things of that nature.

Yeah but this is a real issue in Japan whether or not the low number of testing is intentionally made so by the authorities. Japan is not testing enough even though they have admitted recently that among the new cases discovered, 70% of them can not be traced anymore. So they need to test. But they are not. Again the data speak of themselves, Japan is making 1169 tests per million people nationally and a ridiculous 672 tests per million people in Tokyo. Countries like Italy or Greece that I heard so many times Japanese describe them as "unorganized" do 29650 tests per million people and 6000 tests per million people respectively. So what's your answer to that? Even the number of fatalities caused by the virus seems to be unreliable because Japan is not counting properly (although this is surely not the level seen in some countries in Europe or US).

Also note that Japanese experts are calling for more tests in order to know how far the virus has really spread within the population. So I don't see why you are being so apologist.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

well the state of emergency was declared on April the 7-th, on April 28 we see lower numbers. did it work ? can't wait to see the numbers for today

4 ( +4 / -0 )

The ratio of confirmed to tested number of people in Tokyo has decreased during the past week approximately from 60% to less than 40%, according to the chart I made for myself:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49827508838_bce40541b3_b.jpg

The ratio (blue) and the number of tested people (red) in a 7-day moving average compiled from https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/

The ratio of Tokyo (40%) is higher than S. Korea in its peak days (1-6%) by a factor of 10. In S. Korea, it peaked at 6% on Feb 29, but thereafter dropped below 1%. Long way to go to a level less than 1%.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

when the numbers were high a few weeks ago, how come many of you weren't doubting them then? Not only are the numbers down in tokyo but all across the country. is all of japan trying to lie to you? give me a freaking break.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

The basic reproduction number has been going down below 1 across most prefectures in Japan. The downward trend seems natural.

https://rt-live-japan.com/

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Yeah, praise to Japan for presenting fewer test results to keep the statistics low on Mondays. Before anybody starts jumping with joy, this is the result of less testing and has nothing to do with the actual number of cases. This statistic should be a percentage of how many cases from how many tests. This is more like a political stunt than a news article.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

What we really need is real-time excess death numbers. Only that can tell us what's really going on.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japan's response to this pandemic resembles that of a third world country in many ways.

Only centralized testing and nurses and doctors having to wear trash bags and raincoats due to the apparent lack of equipment and facilities.

Clinics and hospitals everywhere even shutting down in desperate acts of self-preservation leaving people who are severely ill with no support.

"Mild" cases being lodged in hotels at own expense despite the "low" number of cases in Japan.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government's response has been incompentent, irresponsible and borderline criminal.

The Abe administration seems to care more about presevering its own image and wealth rather than the health and wellbeing of its citizens.

The government has turned the debate onto its re-usable masks and cash handouts, treating the outbreak as a PR crisis between itself and each individual citizen rather than focusing the country's resoures locally to support municipalities, healthcare workers etc.

And then there's the media. It is unfathomable why most Japanese media is not challenging the narrative. 

If people in Japan are to be accused of complacency, it is definitely not being helped - catalyzed rather - by the media and the lack of truthful reporting.

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

Which heard immunity are you talking about? This would require at least that 60% of the population should have been infected by the virus

Herd immunity is not an on-off switch. As the infected proportion of a population increases, it becomes progressively more difficult for the virus to fine non-immune hosts. Swedish experts have suggested that the effect starts to become noticeable at around 30% infection levels. Since NYC is at around 25% infected, up from 21% last week, we will soon start to see if this is true.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

On a per capita basis the numbers I see out of Japan are quite good, and it reflects in the numbers showing a decline.

Keep on with the great job Japanese folks! Just don't go to Pachinkos and such like places, continue practicing physical distancing and your traditional good hygiene practices!

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

@RationalReader

Who said that it was an on-off switch? I was replying to someone that claimed that herd immunity has been reached in Japan which makes no sense. Even if the Swedish 30% infection level to observe the beginning of a herd immunity is correct (although the current scientific consensus put it at least at 60%), still no way that 30% of the Japanese population has been infected.

And as of Monday morning, health officials have confirmed at least 288,076 total confirmed cases in New York State. There are almost 20 million people living in New York State so I leave up to you the conclusion.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The government has always said that a 70-80% reduction in social interaction would bring the R0 number (transmission rate multiplier) to 1.

I am really puzzled why not one person, really not one person has questioned whether the 70-80% reduction in interaction can lead to a dramatic reduction in infection.

We know from the behaviour of the virus in various countries that have been transparent with their reporting that when the virus is already in the system only drastic measures and even then didn't stop the virus from wrecking havoc in the short run but after a long while after running it's course. Why should we expect a 70-80% reduction in interaction to achieve the same result or better than a complete lockdown? It doesn't make sense at all to me. Lockdown in the short term didn't help lower the deathrate even in Germany with one of the best medical systems in the world.

What is obvious is that without the drastic lockdowns the spread and deathrate would be tenfold compared to what we are seeing now. That is why the measures taken by Japan which compared to be other countries has been lax yet showing results that defy the general trend else where thus arousing suspicion.

The trains were running packed and still continue to run eventhough not as packed as before so what the low or fallen numbers tell us is that the virus isn't transmitted in the train where social distancing is impossible then isn't it contradictory

telling the public to limit interaction by 70-80%. Of course, one doesn't need to be rocket scientist to know why trains have not been targeted by the government and experts, that would be indirectly telling people not to go to work thus bringing the economy to a complete halt as most people in the big cities rely on public transport to commute to work.

We hear news that this virus has killed without mercy in elderly homes in canada, italy, england, U.S etc that were infected, luckily if we are to believe Japan again has defied this trend.

Geez, how do you expect people to trust the number they are being drip fed when even the minutes of the discussions of the so-called government picked experts committee is under wraps by the government and unknown to the public.

If data such as number of test, number of deaths and cause of death, number of infected living alone, with families or in facilities was readily available to the public, trust in the numbers and the authorities will be high.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@zichi: Even though I may disagree with your views a lot of the time, I do respect them. I am however saddened to learn that you would believe a word the Daily Ex;ress publishes. This has been documented for a few days and been discredited by many others in believable media. The Express makes the Daily Mail look like a serious broadsheet. You concentrate on your recuperation and get some fresh air rather than read that muck.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Creeping numbers are a good thing, no doubt. But how long will the paralysis last? How long can it be sustained. Is there a game plan Abesan? If there is we need to hear it in as plain , forthright and simple form you can muster. It’s what leaders do.

Have been watching the heartfelt addresses to the respective nations around the world by leaders that obviously care deeply for their people and it shows. Humility and honesty goes along way. Politics ( bar the US unfortunately, just sad ) has been put aside and there is a surprising feeling of solidarity and unity as we all face the situation. One that many believed to be a thing of the past. Wrong.

The figure head of the nation must rise to the occasion, not fumble around. People can handle bad news actually, as long as it’s given in a straightforward and truthful manner.

Rally the heart, tell us what’s what and give us the possible scenarios and options we need to get our heads around to move forward. Show us you are on this thing. This is your time Mr PM.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

"... offered no grounds for optimism..." because she prefers to accumulate more power.

Herd immunity is the only way to overcome this.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

39 new coronavirus cases in 4 weeks. It sounds good but is it really true. After all, Japan does less testing than almost any other country, so do the official estimates accurately reflect this?

Still, good news is good news. Could it be that Japan has dodged a bullet? Boy, I hope so. Maybe this is because the Japanese wear masks so often anyway during the regular flu season.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

25% of New York City residents have (or have had) the infection according to Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York State.

https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-new-york-cuomo-20200427.html

So the virus is much more widespread and much less deadly than previously thought.

Similar tests have been conducted for New York State (15%), Miami-Dade (16%) and Santa Clara County (2.8 - 4.2%, but two weeks ago).

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@rgcivilian1

... considering SARS, MERS all originated from the same source before introduced to Japan, 

And what source would that be?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

COVID-19 has been way overblown and the small number of cases in Japan prove that. Prediction, Japan is back to normal life within the next 6 weeks.

-3 ( +5 / -8 )

must of cut the number of tests

0 ( +2 / -2 )

We all have this image of saving the economy being a bad thing because we associate the word economy with "greed" well greed is what put food on ur table, greed is why people become doctors, greed is why you can travel to the otherwise of the world in less than 12 hours. The only people we think are greedy are the people next to us, not ourselves.

The only bad kind of greed is when we are deceived by politicians that trick us into thinking they are acting for the sake of our well being. Hello, just like any of us they act according to their interests, and that's saving their jobs. Politicians in Canada, France etc found it politically expedient to quarantine everyone(with the help of media hysteria because scary news sells) now many find themselves in a pickle. There is no question that unquarantine will result in an inevitable spike in cases, at the same time a ruined economy will cause a ton of deaths( high unemployment=high death rate) so any move they make will be made with the risk of becoming unpopular. So what do we do? We can't just continue to quarantine and unquarantine for years! But that's the most politically expedient thing to do! They won't accept the fact that maybe the solution to this thing( with the least amount of negativite consequences would allow natural immunity) because surely the measures to combat the virus are more damaging then the virus itself. Don't fool yourselves if you think some government officials are less greedy than others. Their interests solely reside in being politically expedient in order to get elected. Everywhere! Japanese officials are lucky because the Constitution doesn't allow them to interfere. Responsibility is almost completely evaded this way. It is just obvious some government officials have shot themselves in the foot, the best they can do is continue quarantine and blame quarantine related deaths on the virus itself.

Furthermore, the media has shot itself in the foot. Yes, bad news sells, but not when people don't have enough money to buy your papers. They are thinking in the short term, analagous to a euphoric but short lived high with the inevitable up and coming low.

This isn't a conspiracy, it's just people acting in accordance with their best interests. Politicians, news people everyone are greedy. It only causes problems when we hide the fact.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

@Peeping_Tom

"With no information of how many tests done,"

Test, test and more tests; all this nonsensical insistence on testing.

Testing is not a Panacea.

Even if your test is positive the ONLY thing they'll do is remand you in quarantine. Nothing more, nothing less.

Testing is not about you. Testing is about others and everyone. Testing is not done so that you'll automatically get nursing and caring, but it is done to get as much info as possible of the virus and to learn of it; how many cases there actually could be, and where and how it's spreading, keeping data of the symptoms. Everyone should self-isolate now, but if you have a confirmed case of the virus then of course you need to stay in a strict quarantine, to try to slow it spreading.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

@Mike: Two words. SPOT and ON.

Good on you for saying it on this forum. Probably should have chosen somwhere a little less left OF left.

Brilliant Post.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Population Germany 80 M with 2 M tested

Population Japan 120 M with 150k tested

Anybody see a problem here?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Maybe Koike should count the lineups outside the hospitals

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

It is increasingly clear that the lockdown in the US has failed. It was meant to confine the virus in small clusters and make contact traceable possible while we waited for drug treatments or vaccines to become available. It didn't work. The virus has broken out and infected broad swathes of people - almost 3 million in New York State alone.

But the good news is that the virus is harming far fewer people than thought. About 90% have no symptoms or symptoms too mild to bother consulting a doctor. Outside of certain risk groups (over 75, diabetic, obese, hypertensive) mortality is very low.

It's time to isolate, protect and provide for thise risk groups and let everybody else get on with their lives.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

You have WAY too much tine on your hands.

The French are handing Nocotine patches out, Americans want to inject Lysol, Possible BCG link elsewhere.

Everething will be explored. 99% will be nothing - but al must be explored. But Kawasaki Disease? Come on Robert - you're better than peddling this rubbish,

Nobody knows what this is - Nobody can deal with it - There won't be a vaccine.

Move along and deal with it. Its here to stay, hopefully it will burn out.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@RationalReader

But the good news is that the virus is harming far fewer people than thought. About 90% have no symptoms or symptoms too mild to bother consulting a doctor. Outside of certain risk groups (over 75, diabetic, obese, hypertensive) mortality is very low.

Recent news and evidence point, that the virus causes possibly long-time harm also in patients who did not have severe symptoms, as it destroys and scars lungs, and that a growing number of young and middle-aged people are getting severe symptoms.

Also, while relatively rare, some young and healthy people, with mild to almost no symptoms from covid-19, have suddenly had strokes due to it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/24/strokes-coronavirus-young-patients/

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

zichi,

Thx for stat info, but the sad fact is that with such little testing even a honest report of # of tests & the results WONT tell us where we are at here in Japan.

This is where we have been stuck from the beginning!

Another thing is I would like to see stats on the number overall deaths per month from previous years & compare with Jan -Mar & eventually Apr onwards. I suspect the number of deaths is higher than average, I read somewhere this was the case but have not seen any numbers to try to assess on my own.

Like others have said from time to time on other threads I think Japan is NOT doing testing on older folks who have passed this year so as to keep deaths that were speeded up due to covid DOWN!

Sadly we will likely NEVER know the truth!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

considering SARS, MERS all originated from the same source before introduced to Japan, 

There were zero SARS, MERS patients among Japanese in Japan.  So not introduced to Japan.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Recent news and evidence point, that the virus causes possibly long-time harm also in patients who did not have severe symptoms

Still anecdotal and tiny numbers - nowhere close to enough to justify destroying the economy.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Think about the numbers Cuomo gives us. If we assume an R0 of 2 and an infectious period of 14 days, leave aside the herd immunity effect and continue current mitigation efforts, New York State will reach 100% infection in about 5 weeks. If we assume an R0 of 3 and an infectious period of 7 days, it will take less than 3 weeks. So what is the lockdown actually accomplishing?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Not real numbers.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

when the numbers were high a few weeks ago, how come many of you weren't doubting them then? Not only are the numbers down in tokyo but all across the country. is all of japan trying to lie to you? give me a freaking break.

Thank you, nakanoguy01 I cannot rep you high enough, someone that finally gets it.

When the news reports showed day after day of ever increasing positive coronavirus test results across Japan, people here automatically embraced those figures and wagged their fingers at Japan: "See, told you all that the Japanese can never get their act together and are reaping what they sow for not adhering to proper coronavirus preventive measures" (this despite pictures actually showing many Japanese avoiding public places by abiding with shelter in place orders).

And now that reports show that the coronavirus infection rates in Japan are actually decreasing, these same people now automatically refute those figures, insinuating that Japanese officials are fudging the testing and numbers in some manner to deliberately lower the 'true' infection rates and mislead the public and world.

smdh

3 ( +4 / -1 )

112 today. Still not the end of the world.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If the NY ratios of infected to diagnosed hold true then the implied numbers of infected in Japan are about 120,000. However, that may be low because of lower rates of testing in Japan. Simply adjusting using the per capita testing rate gives about 4 million, but this is probably way too high because NY tests many less symptomatic cases. True number of infected is probably in the 500,000 to one million range.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Population Germany 80 M with 2 M tested

Population Japan 120 M with 150k tested

Anybody see a problem here?

Yes I do, the problem is Germany testing massively and finding almost 159,000 infected and reporting 6100 deaths and being transparent with the reporting. The war against this virus is not a competition to award the country with the lowest number.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

39 deaths seems substantially lower than the past few weeks. Hopefully it will continue to decline, death is always sad when you consider those who are involved.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Zichi.

Eventually, there will be updated figures but probably next year. The figures are reported by the local governments first and then collected by the central government.

106 virus deaths in Tokyo since it started won't add much but if the final figures are more like 15,000/month we will know it was covered up.

I believe the central government is getting the numbers daily from around the country but for reasons known to some in the government the numbers are not made public on a timely basis.

With bureaucrats having a history of shredding, fodging numbers etc there is no guarantee the numbers won't be doctored when they are finally released. It is like having faith in a monkey and leaving it with a banana and not expecting the monkey not to eat it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It seems that some of our less mathematically able readers have taken fright at an earlier post (somehow disappeared) where I estimated a high number of infections in Japan.

Let me explain that for any given number of deaths/hospitalization, a higher number of infections is a GOOD thing because it means the virus is LESS DANGEROUS and LESS FATAL.

I am sure most readers will already have grasped this.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

As many have mentioned, the number is low because they don't test (as much) on weekends, but the trend is clear for Japan. It is going down:

https://covid19japan.com/

39 deaths seems substantially lower...

Not deaths, it is 39 new confirmed infections.

112 today. Still not the end of the world.

Now at 120 for the entire country, which I think is a good number. I hope it doesn't go too low so that we can gradually build up greater herd immunity (without overwhelming the hospitals) before the next flu season.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

If it's true and the numbers, are dropping why is there talk of closing schools until September???

It seems insane

3 ( +3 / -0 )

122 today.....too soon to celebrate

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

It is unlikely to be so gradual. Following NY (which is probably behind Italy & Spain but has data which is better and more accessible to English speakers), infections will increase by 1-3% of population per week, but hospitalizations and deaths will increase far more slowly. Within a matter of weeks or months the virus will have infected most of the population, but 90% will not even have noticed. This virus is more virulent and less dangerous than we believed.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

"when the numbers were high a few weeks ago, how come many of you weren't doubting them then? Not only are the numbers down in tokyo but all across the country. is all of japan trying to lie to you? give me a freaking break."

Because JT'eer mentality seems to go like this:

Japan reports that almost 100% of their population is infected, they will believe the figures.

Deaths of Japanese increase, they will believe (and probably be over the moon with the news).

However, Japan reports a decrease in infections/death, then it MUST be lies.

Double standards here, even when they try to sound intelligent.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

On Sunday, Monday its "weekend numbers so it doesn't count"

On Tuesday it's " look the sky is falling "of course no mention tomorrow is a national holiday and the numbers are down from last week.

Eitherway 50, 100,150,200,250 nothing change until mid may

the media are set on keeping up the panic,

people will probably get bored and go out in gw and then there will be "people at the beach are going to kill us"

schools will close until september because local authorities want to look like they are keeping the virus at bay

Other countries will give up on lockdowns and Japan will follow

Andbig business who incidentally hold most of the countries debt will force abe to recind the emergency.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

People won’t get tested in their local hospital but at a government administered clinic.

Civil servants run those clinics and continually DENY referrals for the corona virus test.

There is your reason for those low numbers...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@RationalReader

(By me: Recent news and evidence point, that the virus causes possibly long-time harm also in patients who did not have severe symptoms)

Still anecdotal and tiny numbers - nowhere close to enough to justify destroying the economy.

“If a medically-informed response to a pandemic creates economic hardship so serious that the economic impacts are more deadly than the virus, you change your economic system not your response to disease.

Condemning some to die of a preventable illness so that others don’t die of engineered poverty is disgusting.”

James Andrew Boyd

Also:

*"Many people think COVID-19 kills 1% of patients, and the rest get away with some flulike symptoms. But the story gets more complicated. Many people will be left with chronic kidney and heart problems. Even their neural system is disrupted. There will be hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, possibly more, who will need treatments such as renal dialysis for the rest of their lives. "*

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/finally-virus-got-me-scientist-who-fought-ebola-and-hiv-reflects-facing-death-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR1XTVZ0u9QQSsc-5QOpkG0i-VdmrRD9B7p0_IAxPdsb2xp96MCaEB3OO_s#

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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