Japan lowers COVID status to same as flu in major policy shift

be interesting to see if there is any social change

That was today(?)…; hahah… I forgot about the downgrade… maybe because I’m not afraid of the virus and I don’t wear a mask anymore…; anyway, here we go… back to “ reality “…;

がんばろ！

I think there already is- Noticeably in Restaurants I have visited over the last two weeks. Thats if you can actually get into anywhere decent at the moment such is demand. Staff no longer in masks etc. Can't really comment on the chain restaurants, but certainly in the independents. In my (large) office building mask use seems to be down 50% or so, again in the couple of weeks and on my flights to Korea over GW it was only the older Japanese still wearing masks.

Fantastic news, and better two years late than never.

Lest we forget the part the media played in shaming, duping, deceiving and bulldozing the populace into accepting an untested, experimental therapy. Nor should we forget their role in the sociopathic mind games played upon the people fomenting division, distrust and discordance. One of the darkest times in modern history and may it never be repeated.

I definitely see less masking, especially outdoors. (I haven't been wearing one outdoors for months, unless in a crowd or close proximity to others.) Although, it's still close to 100% at indoor shopping locations, public transit, etc, which is a smart idea, if even just to avoid colds and flu.

I just got my first head and chest cold in over 3 years, due to lowering precautions lately. We've been dining out and having family and friend gatherings at home. Somewhere amongst those activities, I picked up some good old-fashioned non-novel corona virus.

From what vaxed friends and relatives have told me about their bouts with Covid (presumably Omicron), I would much rather have gotten that than this damn cold, which I don't care for one bit. No sir. I don't like it.

manaka, a 44-year-old banker in the capital, said he "can't take off" his face covering when on crowded trains because almost everyone else is masked.

He said he would "look at what everyone else is doing" at work before deciding on how to approach the issue.

indeed no change at all regarding masks.

At 44 years old he is supposed to be a grown up and make his own decisions.

This is really hopeless.

If mask don’t go now they never will. So sad not to be able to see faces of people we talk to.

Noticeably less masks whilst out and about thankfully.

I just saw a "gaijin" wearing one though. I wonder who he thinks he is, not doing as I do.

At 44 years old he is supposed to be a grown up and make his own decisions.

This is really hopeless.

Wait until summer sets in. There'll be no masks in 3,2,1....

Still saw lots of single occupant cars with their drivers wearing masks today.

Rather amazing, Japan's Cases Yesterday/Sun. Up over 100% vs. prior Sun, Tokyo more like 150%!

XBB on rise, many 'escape' qualities, thus vaccination & prior infection offer little to no protection from infection.

Prior infection, per Lancet UK Medical Journal research completed earlier this year, serious increase in risk of severe disease and death for years. Please read.

Wise to not forget lessons learned, new normal. Many experts predict peak later this summer highest yet.

Golden Week in Nagano, Niigata was great!

Guess only 1 in 4, 5 people were masked up.

Around ski and cafe areas probably 1 in 10.

Hope restored.

When I am walking my dog I still get dirty looks from the venerable pensioners doing their Rajio Taiso every morning because I'm not wearing a mask, but they have masks the requisite 2mm below their bottom lips as they are puffing and panting all over each other to piano chords recorded when Hirohito was recently de-deified.

I took all sensible precautions when the pandemic was a pandemic. Unlike my idiot boss, who racked up tens of millions in disinfection charges by demanding sick people come to the office.

Now, vaxxed and boosted, I look forward to seeing the friendly scowls on the faces of my neighbours once again.

Very good news. Always moving forward is a positive thing. Japan needs to worry about Japan, and not worry about what other countries think or are doing. People often forget this is Japan. This is not the UK, USA, Canada, etc.

Spitfire

Still saw lots of single occupant cars with their drivers wearing masks today.

I've never understood that, even when Covid was at crisis levels and fatalities were high. I was moderately paranoid back then, myself. But, I never masked while driving alone. That's just ludicrous.

Well, it is has only been 3.5 years. Lol.

Japan needs to worry about Japan, and not worry about what other countries think or are doing.

Indeed. The death toll from COVID-19 in Japan over the past three years has topped 74,000.  Considering there was no draconian lockdowns or excessive manipulation of the population, like a neighbouring country, I say again, Japan has handled everything extremely well.

If mask don’t go now they never will. So sad not to be able to see faces of people we talk to.

Have you lived in Japan for more than 5 years? If you have, you would know that Japanese have more masks way longer than 5 years ago...This stems back to when there was SARS outbreak in 2002. History has shown us that even back in 1950 Japanese wore maks as a safeguard against air pollution. These comments again are just proof as to who lives in Japan, who does not, and who does not know much about the history and/or culture.

 If you have, you would know that Japanese have more masks way longer than 5 years ago

oh but not in paranoid levels like it has been now, you can see it in pictures of hanabi, matsuri and otaku street events as recently as late 2019, pretty much everyone was maskless back then.

History has shown us that even back in 1950 Japanese wore maks as a safeguard against air pollution.

I saw a historical drama the other day. An Edo period artisan (carpenter I think) was wearing an Abe style mask. I kid you not. Goes to show that even long ago before medical science was as developed as it us now, people knew masks worked. Proof that the internet, YouTube and podcasts make people stupid.

Everyone needs to strike their right risk mgmt. balance and be tolerant of others taking more/less risk, like markets!

It'll strongly correlate with age and underlying health but either way - Virus does not care.

Major upgrade replacing Omicron coming, question of time like earthquakes, expert consensus approx. 33% next 2 yrs., over 90% before 2030.

One huge problem is going to be costs involved for testing. For example with the flu, the medicine given, and the receipt, showing that it was administered, can be "proof" that the person had influenza, and thus, being given "authorized" absence due to having an infectious illness. The tests as well are well under 2,000 yen too.

Now, to get the COVID test, will cost between 4,000 and over 20,000, depending upon the location and test, and if people can not pay for the test, and are unable to "prove" it, will need to use vacation days, or be considered as an unauthorized absence, and can affect income as well as those who collect bonuses, as they are then not considered to have been present 100% of the time, or off for an authorized reason or vacation day.

look at what everyone else is doing"

yep and everyone else looking at him and nothing changes.

just take off the face mask if you got vaccinated. If you never got vaccinated you don’t have to do anything new.

FYI, young kids I know under age 10 and that's a lot, including many classmates, none traumatized wearing mask in store or indoors at school.

Though one napping now at home, he's maskless, again it's all about managing risk. Advise any parent to make sure their kids' teachers have classroom windows open, I did so today, as air circulation (home too!) best defense.

XBB no joke, nor is any prior infection if you believe in science or intend to try to live long healthy fruitful life.

Really surprised at the number of people that are bugged by Japanese who choose to continue to wear masks.

Ya'll would hate it, and DO hate it, when someone tells YOU what to do or not to do, yet you feel confident, hypocritically so in fact, to tell others what they should be doing.

It's their face, their life, their choice! Quite being hypocrites, and let folks make their own decisions.

YubaruToday  06:12 pm JST

Really surprised at the number of people that are bugged by Japanese who choose to continue to wear masks.

Quite so, as if it's any of their business anyway.

After three years(!) of wearing a mask and washing my hands, I can finally be excited (not just for me… but for all of us) about returning to normal, the way everything is supposed to be… but there are still people downvoting certain comments…; and that’s why I said がんばろう。。。 I know that it ain’t easy…; three years is a long time…; but there’s a world out there. Let ‘s go.

Japan was an awful place to live during the pandemic. Family couldn't visit, we couldn't travel abroad.

Awful. I'll forever dislike Japan because of this

can sort of understand the very elderly keeping up their guard, but the young? Young people on bicycles in the park still masked up. Hay fever no excuse now, just pity and shame. They will stay the rest of their lives behind a paper veil that doesn’t even work.

Why are you so bothered by what others do? In what way does this directly affect you? If you care so much why not walk up to a masked person and share your views?

you lived in Japan for more than 5 years? If you have, you would know that Japanese have more masks way longer than 5 years ago...This stems back to when there was SARS outbreak in 2002. History has shown us that even back in 1950 Japanese wore maks as a safeguard against air pollution. These comments again are just proof as to who lives in Japan, who does not, and who does not know much about the history and/or culture.

@kenji

This morning you wrote on another thread that 99 % of people on this site were not living in Japan.

Now you are it again pretending to know who has been in Japan for a long time or not!

Just because somebody do not share your opinion does not mean he does not know Japan or even does not live here. I have been here for ages (god know maybe longer than you) and while indeed wearing masks has long historical roots in Japan , it is obvious that pre Covid, outside of the kafunsho season, the number of Japanese wearing them was marginal.

and poof, just like that the hand dyers are back to working and the paper towels gone in the lavatories.

Peer pressure is still very much alive and well.

Just because somebody do not share your opinion does not mean he does not know Japan or even does not live here. I have been here for ages (god know maybe longer than you) and while indeed wearing masks has long historical roots in Japan , it is obvious that pre Covid, outside of the kafunsho season, the number of Japanese wearing them was marginal.

I am not saying or meaning that at all. It is just obvious what some people say that they don't live here. Some people make statements that really show they have no clue what is going on.

Awesome that Japan has moved on from Covid.

@kenji

Sure some people do not live here and do not understand the country but certainly not 99%! Reading comments here pretty frequently I believe that the majority of commenters live here. But they are things they like and things they don’t in this country and it is ok to express them. Anyway good evening !

Great news, Japan's official case count today May 8th - only up 86% from last Monday May 1st!

It's known real count likely at least 10x higher, so likely close to 100k infected today, remember most, 80-90%, have no symptoms, so no reason to get tested.

Plus, most with symptoms convinced it's just spring Flu or under no circumstance will seek out testing. Though they'll happily go meet friends, elderly parents etc.

Amazing durable health values, truly impressive, and world class research on excess disease and death due to prior infection definitely not needed!

When I walked into work on 13 March without a mask on, there were gasps. I asked around and was told: 'We Japanese will take them off after Golden Week'. How's that going?

Japan was never that bad about mask wearing. Nobody stopped you from riding public transportation if you didn’t have a mask on your person. No authority forced you to wear one. Worst I experienced was an elderly woman kind of scolding me for not wearing a mask on the train and then handing me a new pack of masks she had. Taiwan was the worst. Wasn’t allowed to get on a train because i didn’t have a mask on me (I think it fell out of my pocket) and because of that missed my flight back to japan.

A political rather than a medical motivation. People want to believe it's over, and governments like to give people what they want. There is no scientific basis for this decision, because Covid-19 is not anything like the flu, and never will be.

Time to get back to normal living rather than living in irrational fear.