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© KYODOJapan's weekly COVID-19 cases rise for 10th straight week
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58 Comments
kurisupisu
I’ve done the Covid dance too many times now and my knees won’t take it no more…
Fighto!
Tora -
What, please tell, have using parasols in the heat got to do with a virus?
Bizarre.
Meiyouwenti
Hardly news worthy. The Covid 19 is now ranked as category 5 infection, the same as the common flu.
Big
virusrexToday 10:55 am JST
That would apply much more closely to people trying to misrepresent clear scientific results as if they were just something the TV is saying. People openly lying and manipulating others to "fear" science and rational thinking are the ones trying to use scare tactics.
Science works by being challenged. Science that can't be questioned is religion. Doctors used to recommend cigarettes, they used to smoke in hospitals, and anyone questioning that was weird... until it wasn't anymore. "Rational thinking" is being able to separate difference of opinion and questions from lies. The fact that four years on you can't tolerate someone having a different opinion about science (which again, is how science works, tells us a lot about you).
VoiceOfReason
Was on the train the other day and I see a guy with a mask in his shirt pocket. He is standing in front of me while I am sitting before him in seat. He coughs in my general direction 3 times over the course of the ride and does not put on his mask. The lady standing on his right wasn't wearing a mask, and despite the train being packed like sardines, decided that that cough was going to be what got her to put on a mask.
Like someone else already said, how many shots has one already received at this point?
I received zero shots. I got COVID my first time last year when it was in Omicron stage. I had a high fever for two days and a low fever for a few days after. My infant son got it too. Thankfully he has strong antibodies now from this experience and if by the time he is 5 if he is forced to mask I will have a nice chat with the school. And lastly my wife who had gotten two shots during the first year of the vaccine being available...she got it just as bad as I did. None of us wears a mask now unless we enter a clinic or are actually sick with something like a cold or cough.
The problem with Japan is that it operates way too much on groupthink and not on logic. And there still are people who don't cover their noses if they do wear the mask or wear it like a chin diaper.
Self-proclaimed health experts are bound to disagree with me on this thread but at some point you have to consider how the body builds immunity and I dare say from my time as an ALT to now over these years and throughout this entire pandemic that you get a lot of weak children because their parents shield them from everything. Kind of like the idea of keeping someone in a house to prevent them from getting sick but by doing so it makes them allergic to many things.
stickman1760
I think the point about the parasols is that people worry too much now about everything including Covid, which is now just a case of flu which we have dealt with for centuries. Stop worrying and get on with life.
MotMotMot
Back in my home state their infectious disease specialist noted the spike rate and timing are pretty much the same as the previous year. It's just something that's cyclical. They also pointed out the largest health system in the state, with 11 hospitals only has a handful of covid patients on vents.
Vax worked. Hospital admission are the proof.
Quo Primum
Yawn.
It's like the flu or a bad cold for almost everybody at this point.
If you do get the COVID, though, be sure to tell Joy Reid. She'll call you a hero and say that it's "exactly the same" as almost being assassinated:
https://www.msn.com/en-sg/news/other/joy-reid-says-bidens-covid-is-exactly-the-same-as-trump-being-shot/ar-BB1qbl2f?ocid=BingNewsSerp
falseflagsteve
Will I mask up, no way Pedro!
Funny, we saw on TV on Wednesday evening about the rising cases and promoting mask wearing. We went out on Thursday by train and about 20% of the passengers were wearing masks, defies belief.
People still believing the man on TV after all the time and I bet most have had about 10 vaccines by now, lol
obladi
Oh dear, here we go again? I hope JT’s tradition of publishing daily covid statistics won’t be resurrected.
tora
Hey stickman, thanks. Yeah that's true about worrying about absolutely everything. It permeates throughout society now. No risk can be taken. People are living in constant fear. That's not living!
The parasol part (which I didn't make clear) was supposed to be about people lacking vitamin D. Something to do with being good for the immune system. Japanese people in general have a severe lack of vitamin D.
VoiceOfReason
No disrespect to your job, but I don’t think being an ALT qualifies you in this area.
We’ve had WW2 scholars, conspiracy theorists, spammers and a blizzard of sock puppet accounts weighing in here.
Truly ridiculous.
You know, one could be a doctor and have come to Japan to be an ALT for the experience. Way to assume.
Second, never said I was a health expert, you really came off nasty here.
Three, did not Fauci admit this year that he pulled social distancing out of his bum with no real science to back it up?
Now let me finish by explaining this in a simple way you should understand. As a parent of a child in this country and as someone who has worked with small children and has assimilated into the culture and watched how other parents raise their children I HAVE seen 2 years olds wearing masks and parents imposing groupthink on their children and when asked why they do things a certain way they have no logic to back it up.
Yes if you shelter yourself from everything you are not giving your body a chance to build immunity. That is common knowledge.
There are a lot of sickly and under nourished children in this country and in some cases the mask may be warranted but there absolutely is a fear for fear's sake mentality that is hurting children here
WilliaminTK
@meiyoumenti
Until you get it that is! I had been wearing since Covid-19 started and never Vaccinated. Then I got from someone at work since I worn always in public spaces. Now the Symptoms are:
1) Feel a little warmer than usual
2) The high fever comes.( go to clinic to check which needs a reservation)
3) The body fatigue sets in. Energy level get really low.
4) May experience flu like symptoms with coughing and spiting out Mucus sometimes.
Make sure to take 10 days off and work from home. It took about 3 weeks for me to get fully recovered.
thelonius
It isn't just fear mongering. COVID can still put you into the hospital. The angle of these stories should be shifting more towards how to get compensation from China for inventing the thing as the general consensus now is it was created in a lab.
VoiceOfReason
There are about 30 million unvaccinated people in Japan.
They had made it through 11 waves now.
The human body is amazing and natural immunity works.
We don't need corporate products from Pfizer or Moderna to live on this Earth.
Amen!
tora
Yet, people here are all vaxed to the max and still loads are masked up. And even men are walking around with parasols these days.
And COVID rates are up everywhere.
Brian Wheway
I've noticed that it seems to be on the rise again here in the UK again, but saying that it's not as nasty as the original virus, do we need to lock down again? No I don't think so, one of my friends who is a nurse said, it's here to stay with us now, it will never go away, it's something that we will get use to and we will live with it
bass4funk
Never! Never have and never will. So glad I didn't fall for that one.
Kenny
I’ve got fooled and I don’t want to get fooled again
Fighto!
Plenty of people railing online against the Japanese people's decision to wear masks - for whatever reason they choose.
Will they ever actually have the courage to bring this up with Japanese folk, and impart their anti-mask wisdom?
Of course they won't!
Newgirlintown
Anyone else getting dejavu reading these comments about, “no way I’m masking up!” or, “start wearing those masks people!” It’s like 2020 all lover again. The great mask war.
nandakandamanda
What are the symptoms?
tora
Moderna is a bargain right now. At 1/4 of it's peak. Bargain to be had.
Big
Scare tactics. If there is one thing we should have learned over the last four years is that fear sells. If you are metabolically healthy you have nothing to fear. If you are unhealthy, diabetic, obese, etc. you have two options: get healthy or hide every time a newspaper mentions "the next wave is here".
awomde
Vaxxed to the Max!
virusrex
Good, then the surest bet is to listen to the experts and not the ones trying to manipulate others for personal profit.
No, it is not, covid comes with important risks for the heart, brain, immune system, endocrine system, etc. It is nowhere close to a "bad cold" that is dangerous and irresponsible disinformation that can cause people to put their health at risk
Smart people do, so are those that have even a small amount of empathy. Unfortunately lots of people now take pride on acting irrationally and putting others at risk as long as they can act as they want.
With precise and validated information, not with false things being repeated even after they have been completely debunked. Pretending that covid is not dangerous right now is being in the side of the hospital smokers, trying to convince others to ignore the evidence because they want to keep acting in a certain way and so they reject science and the opinion of experts when it runs contrary to their desires.
Having different opinions is not the problem, trying to disguise opinions that can be demonstrated as mistaken as if they were fact is the actual problem, there is nothing wrong with not tolerating people trying to mislead others into making bad decisions about their health.
A good argument to properly dispose of them, and a terribly bad argument about the value of using them. Mask do work and are extremely fit for the purpose of lowering in a very large degree the transmission of respiratory infections including covid.
Wearing masks when in close proximity to others is a good idea, a much better idea is not to be in close proximity with lots of other people in the first place, the article clearly mentions this.
VoiceOfReason
Yet, people here are all vaxed to the max and still loads are masked up. And even men are walking around with parasols these days.
It's been absolutely wild seeing people masking in this heat. And while it is no surprise to most of us foreigners, it is still crazy to see some of those people masked up inside cars or out in public alone.
Jimizo
No disrespect to your job, but I don’t think being an ALT qualifies you in this area.
We’ve had WW2 scholars, conspiracy theorists, spammers and a blizzard of sock puppet accounts weighing in here.
Truly ridiculous.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Yes, you don't need any artificial products to live on this Earth, but you'll only last about 30 years.
Entuojo
The double digit club .!.
Banthu
There are about 30 million unvaccinated people in Japan.
They had made it through 11 waves now.
The human body is amazing and natural immunity works.
We don't need corporate products from Pfizer or Moderna to live on this Earth.
falseflagsteve
The current variants are extremely mild compared to the first. With the vast majority already having multiple infections and or vaccines there’s even less for a healthy individual to be worried about. Does it makes sense worrying about every little thing in the world that could possibly harm you, no The stress caused by constant worrying reduces the immune system.
Just get on with daily life and enjoy.
carpslidy
I young first grade student of mine has worn has worn a mask every lesson for the last 3 years
Yet has had Corona twice
Masks are not healthy, especially for kids
I haven't worn a mask since the start and yet I have caught Corona
tora
The comments are better value than the article, as always. ahh slow summer days in front of JT when should he doing other things.....
Yubaru
Sounds like this poor kid needs a new teacher. Been a first grade student for 3 years.....
Covid and masks are hardly the problem!
carpslidy
YubaruToday 02:11 pm JST
Said student started learning English when she was 4 years old
You do know pre school age students can learn English, right?
virusrex
No he did not, that is a huge misrepresentation of the actual declaration, there is a huge difference between making arbitrary decisions about the distance, based on related knowledge and saying that social distancing in general had no scientific basis, that is completely false.
That is also completely false, there is no wayto shelter yourself from everything, obviously a simple mask is not going to do that. Masks reduce the exposure to dangerous pathogens but the immune system is routinely exposed to countless microbes and other antigens without problem. There is no immunologic problem being related to masks, on the other hand NOT using them appropriately in situations of high risk of spreading is related to higher infection rates, which for children means higher risks of developing the disease and its complications, from neurological problems, reduced development, autoimmune problems (including diabetes) etc.
Parents that illogically choose not to protect their children with masks when indicated by the experts are much more dangerous than the masks themselves. The only "fear" comes from the people that irrationally reject valid measures being recommended by the experts just because of a personal preference to reject scientific recommendations.
Bellflower
The Japanese news media is exaggerating KP.3 and downplaying any discussion of its actual severity. Compare media coverage in other countries and you won't find this kind of "reporting".
The article does not discuss either the general symptoms or the severity of the symptoms of the patients admitted to hospitals.
Of course, in Japan, people go to hospitals for a headache (with sirens blaring, in a taxpayer-funded ambulance).
In fact KP.3 is similar to a mild cold, exactly what you would expect after the virus has mutated over a period of years.
Fighto!
Falseflagsteve
No-one is forcing you to.
I guess you are new to Japan.
You do realise Japanese people were masking up decades before 2020, right?
I'm still amazed at the number of foreign people who don't know this.
Kenchi
Are we even caring? i’m done with it. To be honest, I never really started in the first place.
“and even men are walking around with parasols these days”
Bahahaha The perfect comment. As irrelevant as it may sound, it is perfectly relevant and consistent.
yup, that pretty much says it all.
DanteKH
Yes, good ideea wearing those masks in this heat. /facepalm
Hideomi Kuze
Since Japan's government downgraded Covid19 last May to increase military budget and to benefit corporations, announcement about daily cases and deaths are discontinued, Japanese major media had drastically reduced to report about Covid19 and often used even expressions as if Covid19 was vanished, those mislead society, and deprived caution of people against infection disease.
Such present situation has victimized social vulnerable especially, but major media still avoid to even mention about increasing Covid19 death.
Japan's government who disrespect the lives of general citizen neglects to build system that coexist public health and society, cannot yet restrict repeated Covid19 surge at every summer and winter, has caused to lack medical resources, and increased victim after all. Government's downgrading Covid19 last May is clearly misrule.
2 Year Old
Covid nearly killed me in 2022. Wasn’t pleasant. But… nowadays…
Those pesky parasols are more of a worry, and they are now proliferating in numbers on the streets with the herbivore males using them.
Bu why a worry? Because at least 4 times this year I have been hit in the face with one, very close to the eye. One left a decent mark. People using them take no consideration of others around them on crowded narrow paths.
even sillier, those who use them walking in a street that is 100% shade because of all the tall buildings or time of day.
I don’t wanna loose an eyeball!
buchailldana
I think the point about parasols is you know
"Real men like real macho guys walk in the sun because they are so tough. Who cares about UV light. Same with covid and vaccines. Real tough macho guys don't need that. Just for wimps. I'm a big tough free man!!"
Like the Marlboro cowboy not worrying about cancer.
Didn't turn out well for him
Wick's pencil
Yes, but it was a China's collaboration.
Validated by whom, big pharma?
Kaowaiinekochanknaw
Masks are harmful to the environment and wildlife and are not fit for purpose so to speak.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-covid-ppe-trash-masks-gloves-pollution-deadly-wildlife
Polluting our food chain with harmful polymer, microplastics and with many containing traces of carconegenic PFAS - for no reduction in spread is hardly sound science or intelligent.
Patricia Yarrow
Report the upswing in pneumonia, and influenza, too. Covid is the same level of risk.
virusrex
So you ignore what the actual experts say and instead listen to politicians? because you think they are more reliable?
Sorry but that is so illogical it is difficult to think anybody can think this is the case, there are countless examples of diseases that are obviously originated in animals that transmitted to humans from the prehistory but no longer do that, according to your flawed argument all those diseases were produced on laboratories? from Polio to Dengue.
The debunked conspiracy is about the laboratory, the natural origin has been proved beyond doubt and every scientific institution of the world that deal with viruses and other infectious diseases say this is what happened. That the introduction is a rare event is not an exception for covid, is a perfectly common thing with many other examples.
Mostly they base their claims in that the full medical community of the world is wrong and they are right. That is how predictable they are.
Much worse are the ones that try to misrepresent the scientific consensus as if it came from the MSM, expecting to mislead people to forget the actual origin are scientific and medical institutions.
Again, no self proclaimed anything, the experts of the world can prove vaccine mediate immunity is better with cold hard data that proves people die less when vaccinated than when not. Ignoring the evidence only shows a propensity to live on denial (or to mislead others for personal gain) that is not productive or positive.
virusrex
A reference for this, because that does not correspond with the available data. Lots of people survive car crashes without any safety measure, but in the same way the important part is in the comparison of survival rates. Vaccinated people survive in a much greater percentage. There is no point in having higher risks.
Which is why vaccines work so wonderfully and are considered a huge success. Being vaccinated is what lets the immunity work without the huge risks of the infection. That is the whole point.
But having medical interventions product of science is what let people live longer and healthier lives, people are free to choose to die an early death without need, but not to openly lie and try to mislead others to do the same.
The responsibility of China is about the mishandling, by now is well known that the laboratory origin is a meritless, baseless conspiracy repeatedly debunked.
Science, that is the point of following the scientific method, to validate the results so they can be analyzed and criticized by other scientists. Which is why antivaxxers can never use scientific sources and instead rely on youtube videos.
Unfortunately covid represents a much higher risk, it is not just a respiratory infection, is a systemic one, that affects the brain, heart, immune and endocrine systems, etc.
It may surprise you but for many people masks are not such a nuisance, so wearing one in a car with the AC running, or in a short walk between a packed train and a packed office is not the sacrifice you may think it is.
Thanks to the immunity that the population have, and that still means a lot of people are dying from it, or being affected probably permanently. Which is why the professionals in public health still consider this a huge problem and follow the spreading with interest.
Worrying about something the experts do consider worth and doing rational actions to protect yourself is not "worrying about every little thing" as you misrepresent. That is misleading and a terrible argument against logical measures that do have meaning. Mostly just antiscientific bias and a desire to convince people to act as you want to do so you don't feel out of place.
You can choose to act according to uncontrolled, unverified cases you experience personally, or you can act according to validated information of millions of patients that demonstrate the value of things like masks and vaccines. Obviously the second option is much more likely to be correct if only because of the amount of information, but nobody can be forced to act rationally, specially if that person takes pride in not doing it.
I have never seen anybody self proclaiming being health experts, but the important part is that the actual experts of the world disagree with you and can prove many of your claims are false. Ignoring objective evidence just because is not congruent with your desired actions is not a rational response.
The body builds immunity much more safely thanks to the vaccines, and that has been demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt. Obviously the best experts in the world on the field of immunity know their field, and when they recommend vaccination that is a very powerful argument for it.
factchecker
Just as we're expecting 35 million tourists? Why not just slam the border shut to them again. It was the answer 4 years ago.
virusrex
Which is why the complications and hospitalizations are much lower, vaccines have demonstrated even to reduce the appearance of long term complications, to reduce the number of infections what is necessary is for people to isolate and follow precautions, which unfortunately now many people are choosing to ignore.
What do parasols have to do with covid?
For example
People will take pride on acting irrationally and increase their own risk and the risk they infringe upon others.
Ignore the TV completely, follow the scientific recommendations of published papers on the subject, the reports clearly prove the value of masking, but of course that is of importance only to people that care about their own health and act responsibly in respect to others.
to remain healthy and out of the hospital is a perfectly valid recommendation.
The surge follows a long time of gradual increases, crowding is enough to explain it, the place of origin of the people on those crowds is not an important factor once the virus is in circulation.
Unfortunately economic and political factors caused this, not a proper medical justification.
Any reference that this represents a problem in a significative way? and specially that this outweighs the proven benefits from masking? because if not this is like saying injecting life saving antibiotics produces too much pain to be justified.
Yubaru
Dont know what country you are talking about but it sure isnt here. Japan stopped giving the vaccination away for free and people have stopped getting vaccinated for at least a year now.
Stop with passing along false information. Men with parasols has nothing to do with covid.
virusrex
Again, present your evidence, specifically that the benefits of the use of mask do not greatly surpass their disadvantages, covid is a serious disease that at some point even became the most frequent cause of death for children. Not to mention the multiple long term or permanent problems they cause (like diabetes, immune discontrol, brain damage, etc.)
You can understand that anonymous accounts on the internet can't make any appeal to authority, so a primary source as a reference is the minimum required for this claim to hold any weight.
Melanoma is a cruel and lethal disease, the experts do recommend to limit the exposure to the sun, so this is a completely valid concern as well. Parasols can reduce the incidence of skin cancer. Making the false dichotomy that acting against valid source of risk means accepting no risk at all is just an excuse when you can't find a real argument against a rational measure.
That would apply much more closely to people trying to misrepresent clear scientific results as if they were just something the TV is saying. People openly lying and manipulating others to "fear" science and rational thinking are the ones trying to use scare tactics.
Hervé L'Eisa
Surely the surge in tourism from abroad has nothing to do with this "problem"...
sakurasuki
Aksed people to spend summer in home or their tiny room?
リッチ
Now that the government doesn’t support the vaccines they are becoming weak and more people will get it. Sad they rushed to stop.
zibala
Keep getting those shots!
zibala
Keep those masks on!