Japan looks to lift emergency in some areas ahead of May 31

“About 20 of the prefectures have had few or zero Covid-19 deaths. These should be the first to have the state of emergency lifted.”

And without stopping travel between prefectures, the infected will just go there

There’s no way I’m going back to work in May as I’ve already scheduled my free time for this month and I’ve yet to receive my Abe masks...

this is a huge mistake, ( again), if government is not willing to test aggressively, and separate the infected, if you open the gate, all hell is going to break loose,

you see the news this morning China and South Korea is having problems again, For South Korea which had zero days, and aggressive testing and tracking can not stop idiots doing stupid things.

it only take few idiots to close a hospital, company, buildings,

even in South Korea which suppose to be one of the best examples of controlling this virus, can not control few idiots doing stupid things

The prefectures that could reopen before May 31 could become a magnet for those wishing to escape from the areas with high number of cases even if on the weekends.

Why stop now? With netflixs, uber eats and the internet being such wonderful replacements for real life we may as well keep everything closed until there is a vaccine.

This is clearly a sarcastic comment, and obviously went over some heads

@chipstar

Thank you. At least you got it.

Ashley ShibaToday 08:17 pm JST

There needs to be more testing triple of what of their doing now. The numbers are dropping drastically in the hundreds, really??? I monitor the numbers daily and there are no other countries where the numbers of the virus drop in hundreds like it has here in the past few days.

I live in Tokyo and I can tell you at this time I am staying in my house as much as possible to avoid this virus as there is no way the numbers are dropping like they are recording.

keep staying home but also keep staying away from PC...

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/japan/

numbers are numbers and you can't argument them, the trend is negative since mid April, period.

klausdorthToday 06:11 pm JST

Can't they wait until 2 or 3 weeks after Golden Week? Mind my words: the next shutdown will happen! Sooner than later.

Tokyo is the next NYC, I've marked these words and I still laugh

Enough is enough.

We’ve had two months of this State of Emergency & the only thing that has decreased is my work & my savings.

As long as half of the population are disregarding the government’s request to self-isolate, there’s no point in continuing the SOE.

Good, open back up the world.

Enough economic damage has been done for a virus that has been overly exaggerated in terms of damage.

BlackLabel, your talk of liberal politicians wanting to take your liberties etc etc, I just don’t get it, the new normal is needed to keep the economy running, we cant live like we used to in the past until an effective vaccine is made, some parts of the country don’t need to wait for Tokyo if there are no new cases, if the authorities in those prefectures believe they are ok to lift the state of emergency, why not, it’s their job they are doing

The response to SARSCoV-2, was based on conjecture, speculation, politics, economics and such. Science was not the main determinant, as initial examination of the pandemic did not provide sufficient data and was to a large degree 'reactive'. Geography and socio-economic characteristics, are/were of import in explaining the coronavirus.

The models for spread of the virus are mathematical and presuppose a very precise and linear projection. This is contrary to the actual means and only produces exponential and cumulative charting.

Instead: file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/COVID_19_final.pdf

Much of the political response was based on fallacy and was framed by a very real and immediate an ongoing emergency. Certain structural and institutional frameworks hindered the medical response. Which were fiscal & economic and reflected the shift to a corporate dominated healthcare system wedded to shareholders.

Better luck next time.

Im not buying this "new normal" attitude. Because (a) it includes a lot of things people dont want that are unrelated to coronavirus. that liberal politicians want to use the virus as an excuse to implement anyway. tracking, take away personal liberties, restricted movement, etc

(b) bars, restaurants, sports events, concert halls- cant survive at 25-75% capacity for more than temporary measures. the rent is 100%, that never changed and never will.

Wasn't the idea of the lock downs to slow the rate of people contracting the virus in order to not over run the hospitals / health care system? At what point did it turn into 'hide from some invisible until it goes away'?

There are only two ways out of this. Either you get it, 80%ish with no or mild symptoms, consider her immunity has historically happened between 40 - 90% depending on the virus. Or immunity through a vaccine.

Most of the world and it's people will be literally devastated if we wait at home until a vaccine arrives (and that will come without the thorough testing widespread dosing deserves - Japan has history in this regard).

Get peoples livelihoods back on track before it's too late, take extra care and focus on the high risk groups who legitimately need to fear this virus.

I understand the need to get things back to as close to “normal” as possible and hope this does not come back to bite is as a second wave.

Things will never get close to "normal" again.

Where are the 400.000 deaths supposed to be in Japan if there's no lockdown as some news media reported in the past?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-japan/japan-urges-citizens-to-isolate-as-reports-warn-of-400000-deaths-idUSKCN21X149

South Korea is a good example about how to do things without lockdown and Japan at the moment there're around 624

@gogogo Compare USA with Japan must be a complete joke...

Yes pleeeeasse !

Decisions need to be fact based and not to be left to the Chicken Littles of the World. These two sites provide up to date data with easy to read graphs:

https://toyokeizai.net/sp/visual/tko/covid19/en.html

https://newsdigest.jp/pages/coronavirus/

The vast majority of serious cases and deaths are found in the age ranges of 60s to 80s+. In the Tokyo Keizai information (granted relying on MHW information), the fatality rates are .32% for those in their 40s and .6% for those in their 50s--and these age groups have substantially more overall cases than the older age groups. The other site's numbers are somewhat similar.

"Objective" makes an excellent point that the number of infected is much higher than reported- because many Japanese do not want to report they have the virus (I actually know two Japanese- one in 20s and other in 30s- who are certain they had it and self quarantined) or because there are fewer tests. Accordingly, the actual mortality rates are likely much lower.

As US doctors like Dr. Atlas of Stanford University- have said, the key is to quarantine the sick and protect (and therefore quarantine those who are elderly and have pre-existing conditions that are likely to worsen a coronavirus infection.

This is a link to Atlas' opinion article on the subject:

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/494034-the-data-are-in-stop-the-panic-and-end-the-total-isolation

Lockdowns don't work- they only exacerbate the issue. I

Society has always accepted a reasonable amount of risk in order to function.

It is good news that parts of Japan are cautiously reopening. We need to slowly get back to our normal lives as this virus obviously is not the killer it was anticipated to be. It is hard for media to admit this though.

Everyone on here agrees that the number of infected is obviously much higher than what is reported. That means the mortality rate is much lower. Let's not make the 'cure' worse than the disease.

I everything under control? How many tests are you doing? Copying the death toll of the US isn't a good idea.

I have a two metre long staff that I wield to ensure social distancing. Might be too much but Untill I get tested (if ever) it's the way to go. Think I will wield my staff for a few more months. While I wait for my disgusting free masks that don't fit and a pathetic payout that goes straight into my mortgage. Happy times.

We do need to to have a ‘new normal’. Some restaurants I have been to in Tokyo over Golden Week have implemented it very well. No, I don’t think we are ready for bars, clubs or cinemas to open yet, but I certainly don’t see us going to a stricter ‘requested’ lockdown.

Why do you think cinemas and bars can’t implement a “new normal,” but restaurants can? (Notice I didn’t include clubs.)

Why stop now? With netflixs, uber eats and the internet being such wonderful replacements for real life we may as well keep everything closed until there is a vaccine.

This is clearly a sarcastic comment, and obviously went over some heads.

By the time they make a decision it’ll be the 31st.

Sadly carplidy, If we wait for a safe,reliable,affordable,universally accessible vaccine, nobody will have any money to pay for Netflix, Uber Eats, or Internet access.

We do need to to have a ‘new normal’. Some restaurants I have been to in Tokyo over Golden Week have implemented it very well. No, I don’t think we are ready for bars, clubs or cinemas to open yet, but I certainly don’t see us going to a stricter ‘requested’ lockdown.

Sure, as Netflix, daily 3 times a day Uber Eats and the internet are all totally free, paid for by the same government who already gave us cloth masks and 100,000 yen payments. Oh wait....

Why stop now? With netflixs, uber eats and the internet being such wonderful replacements for real life we may as well keep everything closed until there is a vaccine.

because that's what's in store for Japan when it realizes, too late yet again, that this will bring more spikes in infection.

whats in store exactly. Another spike in infections? And? Nothing should change anyway, time to get things back to normal. A spike in infections with a correlating spike in people who have no to mild symptoms and are fine in a few days.

Great. Good to see things are progressing, weird thing to say for Japan, but as long as people get back to normal and wake up.

I understand the need to get things back to as close to “normal” as possible and hope this does not come back to bite is as a second wave.

The two Pachinko just down the street have reopened, while many bar owners have shut and are still waiting for the promised handout.

There has never been a real lockdown here. Australia is starting to reopen - justifiably - because x amount of time has passed with no new cases.

The way Japan has handled this has been a shambles

Simian Lane: "For me, this lifting of the emergency in some prefectures is really welcoming news."

Hope the second state of emergency, possibly with stricter lock down 'suggestions', will be as welcoming, because that's what's in store for Japan when it realizes, too late yet again, that this will bring more spikes in infection.

Tokyo won’t be lifting the state of emergency soon unfortunately. Something is better than nothing though.