Tokyo lifts coronavirus alert to highest level; 165 new cases reported Wednesday

So we've now reached the highest level of "Not Doing Anything" possible?

Are we really sure this is the best system for dealing with a pandemic?

Their outfits alone would cover the cost of hundreds of tests what the heck is wrong with these people.

See those perfect uniforms. Here lies your problem. The focus as always in Japan is on immaterial points.

This is why Japanese corporations have dropped off the pace. Too much focus on the unnecessary.

The new red emergency alert. But it's just a word. Because it means nothing. Nothing happens.

Are there any actual actions to be prompted by declaring a level four alert? That is, apart from changing the color of the Rainbow Bridge.

See those perfect uniforms.

To me they look like some sort of a power plant maintenance group. :D

I think it has become obvious now why Japan has had a much lower infection and death rate than Western countries. It's those spiffy Corona Task Force uniforms.

The virus is obvious intimated by such visual coordination and fashion conformity. The synchronized list checking is the icing on the anti-viral cake.

Frankly getting fed up with the panic and hysteria associated with this virus.

What panic and hysteria? Are people looting stores and looking for caves to live in?

Frankly getting fed up with people claiming there is panic and hysteria associated with this virus.

I’m feeling pretty calm but still careful. I think I need to be whipped up into hysteria. Any posters up for it?

Put a mask on. Behave like an adult.

Melbourne Australia has a similar amount of cases found daily as Tokyo but with over 10 times the amount of daily testing. They have gone in totally the opposite direction to Tokyo and and have a seriously enforced lockdown with police checkpoints, even supported by the army. And very heavy fines for those caught breaking the rules. The rest of the country has banned people form Melbourne to travel there. Anyhow people in Melbourne can barely leave their homes.

Meanwhile Tokyo is opening up even more and even encouraging people to travel all over the country. Which city is right? I do not know time will tell. I hope those saying Japan will be okay, no problem just open up, are right meaning that Australia is a pack of fools.

I did note that Okinawa had 3 cases of the virus found in visitors from Tokyo. Amazing how from a city of 20 million people with only 200 cases or so a day, three turned up in Okinawa, Amazing odds!

Poor choice of words from the author of the article.

"To lift" is ambiguous as it could mean "to increase" (like here) or "to remove" (as in removing a weight figuratively) which is also used in the same article: "Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifted a nationwide state of emergency in late May" and has the exact opposite meaning.

I had to read the article carefully to make sure it which one it meant.

Unless you test, you do not know how big the problem is. Unless you are rigorous in recording all deaths associated with the virus, you do not know the impact of the problem. Without accurate information you can not set relevant and meaningful policy to tackle the problem. Japan has not tested or recorded deaths accurately; no one, most especially policy makers has any real idea what is actually going on so they are groping in the dark.

99% plus of all the masks being worn are not very effective at preventing virus transmission and neither are these plastic shields that are getting popular.

Source?

And despite the latest outbreak, the situation in Japan remains considerably less serious than in many other comparable countries in terms of population.

Japan has had just over 22,500 cases and close to 1,000 deaths since the disease was first detected in the country.

How about to compare with a communist country like Vietnam: 100 million people, 372 confirmed cases, zero deaths!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's pretty slick how when faced with a public crisis, high government officials in Japan don these blue collar work uniforms, apparently to get the public to think they're getting ready to go roll up their sleeves and unclog a sewer pipe by hand somewhere.

h0nz4, I have good experience of this nonsense in Japan. And that corporation sold out to foreign ownership. Lost profits because of focus on the nonsense.

"The experts just told us that the situation of infections is at the fourth level of the four-level system, which means 'the infections seem to be spreading,'"

THAT is the level 4...the Top level. No wonder they've been doing nothing, taking half measures and sending mixed messages if this is the best their experts can provide.

99% plus of all the masks being worn are not very effective at preventing virus transmission and neither are these plastic shields that are getting popular.

Source?

Virtually everyone except for the kiddies are wearing them and cases are going up. What other conclusion can one draw?

Although you can point out suggestions, that's still not a source or a study - can't just make up numbers on your own. For one main thing, a study compares the experimental group to a control group - to make sure that what's causing the experimental results is not something outside the experiment, and thus able to make a proper conclusion

Or cite sources like these:

"Coronavirus: face masks save lives, Japanese study says"

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/coronavirus-face-masks-save-lives-103449996.html

Using data collected by British market research company YouGov, the team from Miyazawa Clinic in Hyogo and the University of Houston-Victoria created a computer model to see how various factors affected death rates from the disease in different countries.

By far the most significant was mask wearing, which had a 70 per cent impact on death rates, they said in a paper published on Tuesday on the preprint website Medrxiv.org, which means it has yet to be peer-reviewed.

A study by researchers from the University of Cambridge in Britain in April showed that “universal masking” had contributed to the suppression of Covid-19 in all Asian countries except India.

Another study by researchers from the California Institute of Technology this month rated face masks “the most effective means to prevent inter-human transmission”.

Are they playing Bingo in that photo?

It took them long enough. Now, if there are still night clubs, massage parlors, love hotels and other non-essential businesses that are still open, then I doubt this alert level will mean anything

@Hamburger: Define your six weeks for "Everything" please? What do you think should remain operating? That's a very blanket statement to make without detailing what can continue. I for one, can not work from home.

Who will paid for the economic apocalypse that this will cause and the unemployment that will follow? The UK is only just coming to terms with the cost that is way more than initially thought caused by a hard lockdown.

Stay clean. Stay off public transport if you can, Rainy season is drawing to a close. Use your bike. Wear a mask. Don't go anywhere you feel remotely uncomfortable, but stop posting random blanket hysterical comments without actually telling us how you would acheive it and what you would actually close.

Is “red” anything like “double secret probation “?

On a personal level, as a 25 year resident of Japan, this is so depressing..... on so many levels...

If they spent less time on their uniforms and more time allocating resources where needed everyone would be better off.

Except the people in this photo who would have to get off their arses and do some work and the uniform manufacturing company who is guaranteed to be a family member of someone on this committee.

did they randomly sample the packed trains during rush hour ? why focus on night clubs only ? with olympics so far away next year shouldnt japan start testing seriously and stop dragging its feet ?

Reminds me of the Red Dwarf episode where they go to red alert which means changing the light bulb from blue to red.

Utterly useless unless they declare a state of emergency and 'urge' people to stay at home.

Put a mask on. Behave like an adult.

99% plus of all the masks being worn are not very effective at preventing virus transmission and neither are these plastic shields that are getting popular.

Not very effective? So effective to a point. In other words, useful.

Put a mask on. Don’t inject disinfectant.

Virtually everyone except for the kiddies are wearing them and cases are going up. What other conclusion can one draw?

Lots of possibilities. One is that the cases would be much higher if people were not wearing masks. I can think of one country where there is a real dislike of masks from certain groups and cases are going through the roof. The reason why kids aren’t getting this virus at anything like the same rate isn’t yet fully understood as far as I know.

You seem to be approaching this with your mind already made up if you think that is the only conclusion to be drawn.

And despite the latest outbreak, the situation in Japan remains considerably less serious than in many other comparable countries in terms of population.

While you are at it can you tell us comparable total pcr test numbers to other countries in terms of population that japan is performing?

Japan pop 126M total pcr test 574 thousand

Singapore pop 5.8M total pcr test 1.36M

Bahrain pop 1.7M total pcr test 685 thousand.

Lots of comments about the uniforms. It looks inappropriate as people just want the truth, not some Fukushima level crisis. However, at least they're taking this more seriously than before. But walk the walk. Lets get more testing. Studies are showing even asymptomatic covid-19 infections are causing lung damage.

HAMBURGERToday  04:18 pm JST

Jax 3 months for nightclubs, 6 weeks for everything else. Subject to reevaluation later.

Need a more thought out approach. Just locking everything down is not the answer and can lead to other problems.

We've had 6 months of this now so should be able to plan a more strategic approach.

Source?

Virtually everyone except for the kiddies are wearing them and cases are going up. What other conclusion can one draw?

So you don't have any actual evidence that '99% plus' of masks are ineffective? You just looked at people and came up with that number?

What makes the '1% minus' of masks effective? You seem to be in possession of some vital scientific information regarding mask usage that nobody else on planet earth has.

Do you ride the crammed trains in Tokyo?

Time to get off....

What other conclusion can one draw?

1) That cases might have gone up even further without them.

2) That if people didn't visit the nightlife districts to take off their masks to eat, drink and be merry there might be fewer cases.

Koike spends tax money on these silly uniforms to give the impression that the government is on top of things. Stop wasting our money!

Daily cases climbed back up to 243 cases last week, but now has fallen to 165 today. So the level was raised to Red. What would the new color level be if the new cases today went the opposite direction, like to 300? Brown?

far less likely to show symptoms if they are younger and healthy.

And therefore far more likely to pass it on to people who are less young and healthy.

"Tokyo lifts Coronavirus alert to highest level of doing nothing; Government to meet and hold major news conference to announce they are thinking of discussing it"

Fixed the title.

It's highly likely many of us already have the virus, and we are asymptomatic, or had it in the past.

They've found even in the poorest of socially distanced and locked down places, only around 5-7% of people have antibodies.

So I guess the question is, how many do you mean by "may of us"?

Jax 3 months for nightclubs, 6 weeks for everything else. Subject to reevaluation later.

Tokyo will not change the way is handling the pandemic, since the beginning the strength of the infection has been neglected.

Currently people are desperate to get their lives back: economy, social, just feel free again. So, they're unlikely to follow the "recommendations" which at the end are suggestions.

Had they completely locked down the city and set correct measures , people will be more responsible and take care of themselves by themselves. Instead they encourage traveling and gathering together.

really curious , is this tokyo only number of infection or whole japan ? how many cases in all regions of japan today ? why it seem reported like tokyo = japan ?

it may be that younger individuals do not ''die'' from the virus, but NOW there is the problem that the latest Mutation is causing INTERNAL organ damage like Killing Kidneys and Long Term Brain Damage.

New Zealand locked down the country - and have started going around without masks - HOWEVER: After Weeks Of No New Cases Of COVID-19 In New Zealand, 2 Arrivals Test Positive

So I think keep the lockdown and isolate new arrivals for at least 5 days as they wait for their COVID-19 test results done at the airport. I think this is a good practice. It will deter casual travelers who spread the virus from infecting a country.

"So I think keep the lockdown and isolate new arrivals for at least 5 days as they wait for their COVID-19 test results done at the airport. I think this is a good practice. It will deter casual travelers who spread the virus from infecting a country."

All arrivals go straight into quarantine in NZ and elsewhere. Why the urge for a lockdown?

If restrictions are to be imposed, please pinpoint the target area and high-risk population (e.g. Shinjuku Ward, at nightclubs).

https://www.stopcovid19.jp/

Is a good source for bed capacity throughout Japan and other details.

*Abe, My mistake. Typo.

I mean we have to get on with life. The virus is just one more of many daily dangers to face

Matchalatte....I think the color of Tocho also becomes red. A powerful call to action!

carpslidy.:Yeah. Deaths recently. ZERO!

Viktor: You know, we could learn something by checking racial, cultural, environmental issues related to such stats. But you KNOW the powers that be will not allow any mention of that. No, we are to be led to believe that everyone is equally vulnerable. Otherwise, we could find ... oh, my God...that people are different from each other. And they’d much rather people die then get into whatever answers may be found by such research.

Kinda like, there’s “no such thing as gender” anymore. We’re all the same. Get what I mean?

In seeking a template for reality management, the Abe administration could do worse than enlist the evolution of the Japanese earthquake intensity scale. Originally, four-increments, it later became 7 levels. After Kobe, levels 5 and 6 were each redefined into two new levels, reconfiguring the scale into one of 10 increments. None can doubt that the Corona rating scale is badly in need of a similar makeover. At the very least it would allow the current 4 to be downgraded back to a 3, a win win situation for us all.

Authorities say many of the new cases come from night-life entertainment districts in the capital and those infected appear to be people in their 20s and 30s, who are less likely to become seriously ill with the coronavirus.

As of Wednesday, there were only seven people requiring intensive care for coronavirus and authorities have insisted that the medical system is in better shape than at the height of the previous wave in April.

This would explain why Koike and Ave fuel no real need at this time to re-introduce the lockdown. Simply because the nature of people getting infected, and how serious those infections really are. At least that’s one not so bad thing coming out of these spikes.

drlucifer:

While you are at it can you tell us comparable total pcr test numbers to other countries in terms of population that japan is performing?

Japan has a different model. It is based on Conditional Probability that testing entire population is statistically meaningless. What's more important is not increasing raw number of testing but prioritizing testing subjects in order to save lives that can be saved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conditional_probability

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67FGN9RKmqw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMIScCb04qs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE_g_StinjI

No one has died of Covid-19 in three weeks in Tokyo.

In Alabama, more than 40 people died of Covid-19 yesterday, and Alabama has many fewer people than Tokyo.

Los Angeles County reported 45 deaths due to the virus yesterday.

Complain about Abe all you want, he is still a more effective leader than what we have.

"Frankly getting fed up with people claiming there is panic and hysteria associated with this virus."

200 asymptomatic nightlife workers in Tokyo test positive for the virus, all of a sudden a clamour to shut down the economy again. Are they going to test office workers as well, who also have to sit in close proximity to each other?

No. Because that would force the shutdown they are trying to avoid. It's highly likely many of us already have the virus, and we are asymptomatic, or had it in the past. All we can do is try to get on with life as best as we can.

Sealing ourselves in a bubble for what could be years is going to achieve little, and will cause considerable mental damage. Yet many advocate this very course - hence, panic and hysteria.

Until the government changes to reporting the number of deaths and patients in intensive care instead of the number of infections people are going to keep panicing.

If the number of car crashes were reported in the same way people would be afraid to drive.

Carpslidy

Until the government changes to reporting the number of deaths and patients in intensive care instead of the number of infections people are going to keep panicing.

If the number of car crashes were reported in the same way people would be afraid to drive.

Exactly. If we only have "cases" with healthy people going through the thing, that is actually a good thing. It just means society is working its way to herd immunity. If the journos claim there is an actual emergency, they should report on the death rate and the occupancy of ICUs.

Guys, guys, it always looks worse from the inside, but as a resident of the Balkans, I'm telling you, the way you are handling the situation is just mind blowingly good. Bulgaria and Serbia, two countries with population of approximately 7 millions each, have combined for more cases than your 120 million populated country. I'm not even going to go deeper with things like density and how close you leave to each other compared to us.

Do you really think your government is the only one around the world that is getting accused in hiding information, manipulating tests, being to restrictive or too soft? This is all around the world, for crying out loud. There are stupid, dangerous protests, schools and clubs are being opened too early or being closed too late each part is making a mistake.

Then you look at countries like yours, China, South Korea and its people generally actually being smart about it. The govs following the numbers and acting accordingly, the people actually listening to what they are being said. Just pause and ponder, that whining doesnt suit ya all.

Yes I see the uniforms.

Cops have uniforms too.

Firefighter have uniform too.

School children have uniformed too.

Apparently that's the problem in the mind of some people.... The uniformed looks too nice.

Wear a mask. Too many foreigners walking around without masks.

Cue the panic. Yes, confirming what we already know. Anyone can get infected, but far less likely to show symptoms if they are younger and healthy.

Frankly getting fed up with the panic and hysteria associated with this virus.

Why would you shut everything down? Nobody is dying. They only increased the testing so of course the numbers are going up. Those bureaucrats are just larping in their stupid outfits. The media is the virus

6 weeks? 3 months? reevaluate? Please make up your mind, HAMBURGER!

Shutdown Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Shibuya nightly entertainment districts from 6pm and BOOOM, problem solved.

Or just stop testing. As critical cases are only 1%, perhaps we can not all just get it and have it done with. Image if everyone was tested for a common cold or the flu? I bet the numbers would be higher.

new daily cases have climbed after the state of emergency was removed, reaching a fresh record last week of 243 in Tokyo, On Wednesday, Tokyo reported 165 new cases.

The masks are working.

Har!

Put a mask on. Behave like an adult.

99% plus of all the masks being worn are not very effective at preventing virus transmission and neither are these plastic shields that are getting popular.

99% plus of all the masks being worn are not very effective at preventing virus transmission and neither are these plastic shields that are getting popular.

Source?

Virtually everyone except for the kiddies are wearing them and cases are going up. What other conclusion can one draw?

It's time to shutter everything for 6 weeks. Better now than waiting and becoming like the USA.