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Tokyo reports 5,534 coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 25,156

54 Comments

The Tokyo metropolitan government on Thursday reported 5,534 new coronavirus cases, up 148 from Wednesday, and 545 more than last Thursday.

The average for Tokyo over the past seven days stands at 4,774.4.

People in their 20s (1,674 cases), their 30s (1,106) and their 40s (911) accounted for the highest numbers, while 856 cases were aged under 19.

The number of infected people hospitalized with severe symptoms in Tokyo was 274, one down from Wednesday, health officials said. The nationwide figure was 1,765, up 49 from Wednesday.

Nationwide, the number of reported cases was a record high 25,156. After Tokyo, the prefectures with the most cases were Osaka (2,443), Kanagawa (2,340), Saitama (2,170), Chiba (1,410), Aichi (1,221), Fukuoka (1,134), Hyogo (1,078), Okinawa (768), Shizuoka (677), Hokkaido (575), Kyoto (406), Hiroshima (362), Gifu (322), Gunma (317), Mie (311), Ibaraki (296), Tochigi (273), Kumamoto (267), Okayama (254), Kagoshima (251), Shiga (232), Miyagi (231), Oita (198), Nara (173), Nagano (158), Toyama (147), Saga (144), Niigata (132), Miyazaki (121), Yamaguchi (119), Nagasaki (114), Kagawa (111) and Ehime (102).

The number of coronavirus-related deaths reported nationwide was 26.

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54 Comments

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J-gov will continue to limit the amount of testing, so the true number will never be revealed!

28 ( +34 / -6 )

Let this be a wake up call to the Japanese Government regarding quality healthcare for it's people. Their concept of small clinics that provides smiles and aspirin doesn't cut it in the real world when there is a pandemic raging through society. Something is broken here, the people know it and the Givernmrnt knows it. So sad Nobody does anything about it.

21 ( +24 / -3 )

The number of infected people hospitalized with severe symptoms in Tokyo was 274, one down from Wednesday, health officials said. The nationwide figure was 1,765, up 49 from Wednesday.

And in related news to show real numbers on Asahi as of 11 Aug there are 74,135 patients recovering at home - link below

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14420354

For folks who will claim that not everyone need a hospital bed look at news article where people have died at home when their situation went from bad to worse suddenly.. - numerous such reports

21 ( +24 / -3 )

Right on pattern 3,000 fewer tests than yesterday.

Now please don't say this is targeted or how many requested, blah blah blah.

We know almost to the exact number what each day's testing will be as soon as we get the report on how many tests were done on Monday just subtract approximately 3,000 each day after and you have the Tokyo daily testing for the next days.

What a sad and sick situation bordering on criminal, which it one day may end up being like all the past health scandals.

18 ( +24 / -6 )

@Reckless

Cannot breach 6,000 until after the Paralympics. Meanwhile thousands in Tokyo are waiting for a hospital bed.

You are right - look at this news recently published (link below) where a ruling LDP lawmaker made round of phone calls to many medical experts before olympics saying "You'd better not have your name on those recommendations," and "It's already been decided that the Olympics will be held. I want you to avoid rocking the boat."

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210819/p2a/00m/0na/005000c

You cannot make it up - irony is even with all this happening 31% people still approve of present govt - another of those Only in Japan things!!!

16 ( +18 / -2 )

Simian LaneToday  05:04 pm JST

The situation is improving and people can take heart from that, they can be less fearful if they are the type that easily become a bundle of nerves.

Seriously!?

Look at the number of cases the steady rise in severe cases.

Look at how in Tokyo the testing is manipulated every day we can predict tomorrow's testing results just by subtracting 3,000 tests from the previous day.

5,534 new coronavirus cases, up 148 from Wednesday, 

But 3,000 test fewer than Wednesday's tests.

What would the number of cases be if they tested 20,000 like on Monday and not 13,000?

Smoke and mirrors it is all a game of smoke and mirrors and tomorrow the government will complain about "young people" not following the recommendation or getting vaccinated.

Why should they seeing according to the Tokyo government only 5,000 cases a day out if 14 million that doesn't seem dangerous and well let's not mention the fact few young people can get vaccinated in Tokyo because of government incompetency.

11 ( +20 / -9 )

@Antiquesaving

Where did you get that 50% of Tokyo thing?

Full disclosure - this is another/different Jim on the message board - light green icon/sign and not this particular Jim (dark green icon/sign) - maybe I need to change my handle name to differentiate myself....

But I agree with what you write above

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Some shocking news that shows how hospitals are currently saturated...

COVID-19 patient forced to give birth at home, baby dies

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14421133

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Either way, it's nothing to be shutting down society over. Leave that to primitive countries like Australia and New Zealand.

Hysterical.

Not primitive. Overzealous. Certainly not primitive.

Vaccinations going well in Australia after a bungled start.

I’d reserve primitive for low-IQ, hysterical anti-mask, anti-vaccination morons.

7 ( +10 / -3 )

Simian LaneToday  05:01 pm JST

The situation is improving and people can take heart from that, they can be less fearful if they are the type that easily become a bundle of nerves.

Japan’s vaccine rollout, despite not being as fast as the UK or US, is one of the fastest in the world, and the general consensus among developed countries is that once roughly the 70-80 percent mark for fully vaccinated is reached, or a firm majority, and more importantly with all the elderly and vulnerable vaccinated, then you can begin to loosen restrictions and get back to normal. This is what we are already seeing in the UK and the US now, things have opened up, people are starting to enjoy some form of normalcy again, stadiums and bars and restaurants are mostly open, alcohol of course served etc.

What a vaccination usually does as well as protect you from the worst viral effects is lower the viral load you actually transmit, at the end of the day once you have been vaccinated, plus boosters too occasionally if you wish , that’s really all you can do, you’ve done your best , so not long to go for Japan now!

Don’t be too dissuaded by an uncharismatic government on the surface or all the terrible news you read with regularity, things are on the turn now purely because of the daily increase in vaccinated people.  Keep up that vaccination pace !

Your optimism and confidence in the Japanese government is very interesting.

We are in the middle of a pandemic with Japan doing far worse than all westerner countries and you make it sound like a victory?

Also what does the UK and US have to share in common rather than they are both english native speaking countries?

Haven't you noticed that these two countries are in two different continents?

The UK should be put together in comparison with the other European countries because believe it or not the United Kingdom is located guess what? Europe.

As the U.S. as a northern American country should be compared in close with Canada and Mexico.

But maybe all this is too hard to comprehend for you.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

The situation is improving and people can take heart from that, they can be less fearful if they are the type that easily become a bundle of nerves.

I don't know what reality you are existing in but it is not the same one the rest of us are experiencing.

5 ( +11 / -6 )

JimToday  05:16 pm JST

If you look at a line graph, today's numbers are encouraging. The curve is clearly flattening. With half of Tokyo having at least 1 shot, and more getting it each day, this should be Covid's last stand.

Where did you get that 50% of Tokyo thing?

50% of Japanese but not even close in Tokyo

Basically every where in Japan has done a very good job except the entire Kanto region and Osaka all far below the percentages of the rest of the country.

The 10 worst preforming prefecture going from lest worst to worst.

Are.

Chiba.

Kanagawa.

Shizuoka.

Ibaraki

Saitama.

Hokkaido.

Tochigi.

Osaka.

Tokyo.

Okinawa

None of these places comes close to 50%

5 ( +8 / -3 )

There is no better way to keep official numbers low than reducing test numbers every week and keeping tests low. Some people say numbers will go up to 10,000 or more, but this will be simply prevented when testing numbers are kept so low.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

I really enjoy reading the comments here, but this

J_mike character sounds like a complete f'tard who needs to banned for trolling us good people

5 ( +7 / -2 )

@Blowzen

Thanks for the link. And I want to puke. After requesting hospitals to just accept severe cases or people at risk of becoming severe, they dare to say that :

Asked about the newborn’s death, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said at a news conference on Aug. 19 that the government is asking prefectural governments to build a system to swiftly accept COVID-19 patients into hospitals.

“We will urge them again to take concrete measures on reinforcing the patient transport and hospitalization systems,” he said. “The government will offer necessary support.”

It took days for them to make steps back, to that.

The government had initially sought to limit hospitalizations to "severe cases or those at risk of becoming severe." The revised document, however, states that beds should be provided to "those with moderate symptoms who also require oxygenation, or if they do not, those at risk of developing severe illness,"

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210806/p2a/00m/0na/032000c

They wash their hand clean of the issue and just throw it to local government.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

@Simian Lane

The situation is improving and people can take heart from that, they can be less fearful if they are the type that easily become a bundle of nerves.

For anyone saying this virus or overall situation is OK and/or getting better, please read this article (in English)

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14421133

It about an 8 month pregnant woman in Chiba who had Covid, but could not get into a hospital because her symptoms were not severe enough.

She went into labor, and tried to find a hospital that would take her. She was again denied.

So she had the baby at home.

And the baby died.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Like Groundhog day. Cannot breach 6,000 until after the Paralympics. Meanwhile thousands in Tokyo are waiting for a hospital bed.

The only thing like groundhog Day are the conspiracy theories. If it was 6000 now you would be saying same thing about 7000. You people have been saying the same stuff for months. All you do is continually shift your explanation to suit the current state of affairs. Pre Olympics it was 'the numbers can't go up until after the Olympics'. Then actually they exploded during the Olympics and the explanation was 'oh because now Olympics have started they can let the figures run wild'. Now it's they are limiting them until after the Paralympics. Why would they do that exactly? If cases surged after Paralympics as your theory implies then people would just say the Paralympics caused the surge (as they are saying now), which would not be beneficial to the government. Why can't you people see how illogical your theories are?

This government is so incompetent and things are so hopelessly uncoordinated and de centralised in Japan that they couldn't manage to pull off these conspiracies even if they wanted to.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Even with Tokyo reducing testing nationwide number again hits another record high for second consecutive day - today nation wide number is at 24,107 as per yahoo japan news (link below)

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/fb1eb6f7d1cb5c89f83a5acac3ac2e3152b75613

Key concern point is still all medical experts still say that they dont see an end in sight for peak of this wave and cases will continue to rise... stay safe everyone.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

The Paralympics will not cause a problem, as with the Olympics they will be the safest place in Japan from Covid.

“First coronavirus case reported in Tokyo Paralympic athletes village”

https://japantoday.com/category/national/first-virus-case-reported-in-paralympic-village

3 ( +4 / -1 )

For Those Seeking Vaccination Sites in Japan,

https://v-sys.mhlw.go.jp/search/

Find an inoculation venue| Corona Vaccine Navi | Ministry of Health, (mhlw.go.jp)

3 ( +6 / -3 )

But fear not. Each day a new antivaxxer is born.

Echoes of PT Barnum. "There's a sucker born every minute".

2 ( +4 / -2 )

What the government need to do is the lift the de-facto ban on vaccinating young people.

National government continues to sabotage distribution of vaccines to most regions. Some regions even have not yet sent out the vouchers. There's only token access to vaccines for propaganda purposes. A few thousand spots per week for a region of 20M-30M people is never going to do anything.

Until the health bureaucrats are willing to sacrifice some of their kick-backs from domestic vaccine makers and allow for free and open distribution of vaccines to the general public, there's never going to be an end to his.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The Tokyo number and hospitalization strategy are so manipulated as to be meaningless. Both testing and admission into hospital are being heavily restricted. The same thing may be happening in nearby prefectures too. The only number I remotely trust is national cases, with the assumption that it would be far higher were Tokyo (and potentially others) reporting the actual situation.

Just some worrying news out of the UK, but it says that the viral load in double vaxxed people can be just as high as the unvaccinated for the Delta variant. Cases are also surging in Israel, which is already 70% double-vaxxed. 8700+ cases a day for a population of 9.3 million.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-58245285

2 ( +2 / -0 )

And in related news to show real numbers on Asahi as of 11 Aug there are 74,135 patients recovering at home - link below

The article you quoted says "The patients were fighting the disease at home due to public health centers assessing their symptoms as mild or not serious enough to require hospitalization".

Never mind that you have to be at death’s door to get admitted.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

OJToday  07:59 pm JST

the test number for 8/17 was given as 15, 051. In today's report it was revised to 17, 785.

The number of tests is fairly consistent throughout the week. 

Wow that was very selective,

So 21,000 on Monday 17,000 on Tuesday, Wedding 13,000 as it stands but yes it will go up in tomorrow's report but by about the same 2,000 as yesterday.

So 15,000 a t most.

So 21,000 down to 17,700 down to probably 15,000 and tomorrow down to 10,000 adjusted the next day to 12,000

If by

The number of tests is fairly consistent throughout the week. 

very consistent in how every week the testing drops nearly the same amount daily then it is consistent.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Maybe there's some kind of strategic genius somewhere in the LDP ranks, who's worked out how to manipulate public opinion with these numbers. Raise them? Oh, it's the young people's fault, and they don't vote, so we can discard their value. Hmm...we're getting mutterings of discontent. Better drop them by a thousand or so...yep, that gave the LDP a slight boost in an instant poll. Got to keep the balance right. Too high and people complain, too low and they think we're counting the mackerel, as it were.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Another beautiful day with low positivity rate. NOT!

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Delta spreads just as fast in vaccinated people. The vaccine protects you from getting a serious case, but does nothing at all to stop the pandemic.

I don't think that's right - IIUC there was a study that found that vaccinated people shed us much virus as unvaccinated people with equivalent symptoms, but if you're vaccinated you're less likely to get symptoms. It also seems likely the infections period won't last as long.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Simian Lane: "The situation is improving and people can take heart from that"

Clearly. I mean, it's only... what... 5000 up from two weeks ago?

"Japan’s vaccine rollout, despite not being as fast as the UK or US, is one of the fastest in the world,"

Of course! It's like when I started studying Japanese. I learned one Kanji. The next day, I learned 100 -- that means I was 100 TIMES more fluent than the day before! Likewise, when Japan went from giving zero vaccines to giving, let's say, 10,000 times that within the week, the curve on a chart would make such a rapid increase look favorable. Of course, you'd have to leave off total number of vaccinations and every other statistic... then we'd have the "fastest in the world" comment the same way Kono bragged about it before dropping it quickly and scrubbing his Twitter feed when it was announced Japan was suffering another vaccine shortage.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

@Jim

Sorry, I didn't intentionally choose this screen name to confuse people in the thread. Actually, I'm sure that you got here first, so I'll try to change my handle. If I can figure out how to do it lol.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Furthermore, the reality is it's now just before the Paralympics and we in fact have record cases. If there was a govt conspiracy to make things look ok for the Paralympics they are not doing a very good job are they. If they were controlling the numbers why wouldn't they just knock off say a 1000?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

audioboy77Today  05:39 pm JST

Ok then explain ba very simple thing.

If the Tokyo government is not control or capping testing, why is it we can predict near exactly how many tests will be done tomorrow and be 90% sure we are Right.

Every day starting Monday the number of tests drops approximately 3,000 each day and we know Sunday will be 3,000.

The Tokyo government testing is more predictable and reliable than "old faithful".

So give us a logical explanation?

We are waiting.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

@Antiquesaving

Ok then explain ba very simple thing.

If the Tokyo government is not control or capping testing, why is it we can predict near exactly how many tests will be done tomorrow and be 90% sure we are Right.

Every day starting Monday the number of tests drops approximately 3,000 each day and we know Sunday will be 3,000.

The Tokyo government testing is more predictable and reliable than "old faithful".

So give us a logical explanation?

We are waiting.

It's because the private clinics close at weekends.

FWIW see the New York data here:

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data.page#daily

See how cases in New York are consistently, significantly lower at weekends. Every weekend on the chart. Is this because there is also a conspiracy in New York too? Is this because people get less covid at weekends?

No, its due to reduced testing at the weekends.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Half the country is vaccinated right yet the numbers keep skyrocketing breaking records every other day. I think the jgovt has given up the fight against corona it seems like

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

BlowzenToday  06:59 pm JST

Some shocking news that shows how hospitals are currently saturated...

COVID-19 patient forced to give birth at home, baby dies

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14421133

No, it doesn't

it shows how hospitals put profits above lifes

it shows how irrational people have become that a babies life is less important than the risk of infection

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

What is the Japanese people and government doing about this situation.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

The test numbers in these reports are preliminary and not confirmed data. If you look at the pdf from yesterday, you'll see adjustments made to the test numbers for the past few days. Yesterday, the test number for 8/17 was given as 15, 051. In today's report it was revised to 17, 785.

The number of tests is fairly consistent throughout the week. The test numbers are low on the weekend when medical institutions are closed, spike on Monday due to folks who couldn't get tested on the weekend, then remain consistent from Wed-Fri.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

It would be great to know the real number of positive cases.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Stay home

-3 ( +5 / -8 )

Some shocking news that shows how hospitals are currently saturated...

COVID-19 patient forced to give birth at home, baby dies

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14421133

A sad news, but I'm sure that ordinary hospitals are far from saturated, for under regulations covid 19 should be treated only at designated hospitals in Japan. Many medical professionals remain idled (even privileged to get fully vaccinated) while refusing covid patients admission for fear of inhouse outbreak and running red for business.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

And in related news to show real numbers on Asahi as of 11 Aug there are 74,135 patients recovering at home - link below

The article you quoted says "The patients were fighting the disease at home due to public health centers assessing their symptoms as mild or not serious enough to require hospitalization".

So they have nothing to do with the number of severe cases. Nice try though.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

The vaccine protects you from getting a serious case, but does nothing at all to stop the pandemic

It does exactly that - if the serious cases (deaths/hospitalizations can be mostly avoided), then there is no real pandemic. Once 80%+ are vaccinated, then the virus needs to be treated like the common cold or the flu, as that is about how serious it is amongst those vaccinated. (Note that thousands of people due from ordinary influenza each year as well)

-6 ( +2 / -8 )

True but this has not been the case since February last year. Now everyone dies from corona. The numbers are exactly the same though.

Either way, it's nothing to be shutting down society over. Leave that to primitive countries like Australia and New Zealand.

-9 ( +2 / -11 )

Life goes on almost as normal for the majority of us. With the increased vaccinations we will not see high death tolls making things less stressful for those still in fear.Simple precautions shall suffice for going out and about.

The Paralympics will not cause a problem, as with the Olympics they will be the safest place in Japan from Covid.

-17 ( +3 / -20 )

Japan is on track to surpass the vaccination rate in the US within a month or so, and then hopefully they will follow the lead of more advanced countries and stop reporting infections. Only the number of serious cases/deaths (mostly amongst the unvaccinated elderly) should matter at that stage.

-22 ( +3 / -25 )

If you look at a line graph, today's numbers are encouraging. The curve is clearly flattening. With half of Tokyo having at least 1 shot, and more getting it each day, this should be Covid's last stand.

-24 ( +6 / -30 )

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