Japan considers letting asymptomatic COVID patients go out if mask worn

Again Japan with the magic mask! Why these people cannot THINK? How is it possible that they are so fixated on the mask?

If the masks worked in the first place why so many cases???

luckily this variant is mild!

the psychological damage this continual mask wearing is doing to you children is unconscionable and should be stopped immediately!

Young children

Japan considers letting asymptomatic COVID patients go out if mask worn

Just go out to anywhere to Japan, people just wearing mask. People now are asymptomatic ?

Give it up Japan...it's over. Kushida-san knows this but now the hard part begins of convincing the terrified Japanese population that it's time to move on.

Which seems to be regardless of how many shots you've taken.

Therefore the policy is regardless of vaccination status.

According to what scientific evidence? the articles published clearly show a lower transmissibility from vaccinated people, and also a lower rate of infected people becoming symptomatic with those that do having symptoms for less time.

Which would mean vaccination is an important factor in the policy.

If the masks worked in the first place why so many cases???

If seat belts and air bagas worked in the first place why so many dead drivers?

Do you have any valid data that would prove that if people were not wearing masks the cases would not be even higher? if not your question makes no sense. It is already well known that omicron strains are much more transmissible and that no measure is 100% effective.

the psychological damage this continual mask wearing is doing to you children is unconscionable and should be stopped immediately!

You can begin by presenting proof the damage is more than what is prevented by responsible use of masks as recommended by the experts, including the ages of the people.

People now are asymptomatic ?

Most people have no symptoms, and without constant testing you will not know which are infected or not. Something that is obviously not practical. Part of what was found about masks during the pandemic is that if everybody wear masks that means asymptomatic patients are also wearing one, and this reduces transmission.

Japan currently has some of the highest number of Covid cases in the world even when the majority of the population is still masked up. What does that say about the effectiveness of masks? Not much. Why not try a different approach and just let it spread around to allow herd immunity to build among the populace? Seems to be working for other countries, many of which have tossed their masks and they seem to be doing just fine.

Japan is considering allowing asymptomatic COVID-19 patients to leave their homes to buy daily necessities as long as they wear a mask

Again the fixation on Masks. Also, do you really think everyone who tested positive is actually confining them selfs to their homes and not leaving the house and you think Japan is monitoring everyone who tested positivie that are urged to isolate at home are not going under the radar by leaving there homes for 10 days?

Yatta Yatta! Nihon is openingu uppu! Hurry up I want to go homu!!

The common paper mask is useless after about 20-30 minutes. The moisture in your breath saturates the fibers and droplets can pass through. Also, asymptomatic cases are a farce. Non-clinical diagnosis with a PCR test does not properly detect viral infection.

Did you just pull that out of thin air.

It is trivially easy to find references, pretending they do not exist just because they contradict what you believe just prove your interest is in pushing them instead of what is actually been demonstrated.

the effect has been demonstrated for previous variants

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa2116597

but also for Omicron.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.27.21268278v1

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/covid-19-omicron-risk-assessment-further-emergence-and-potential-impact

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02328-0

The team found that among individuals with COVID-19, those who received at least one vaccine shot were 24% less likely to infect close contacts— in this case cellmates — compared with unvaccinated prisoners. People who had been infected before were 21% less likely to infect others compared with prisoners with no prior infection, and those who had been both vaccinated and previously infected were 41% less likely to pass on the virus compared with unvaccinated individuals without a previous infection.

You on the other hand have presented absolutely no evidence that vaccination have no effect on transmission, but that has not stopped you from claiming this is the case.

The common paper mask is useless after about 20-30 minutes.

According to what evidence? obviously you are not making an appeal to your authority to decide this, right?

Also, asymptomatic cases are a farce. Non-clinical diagnosis with a PCR test does not properly detect viral infection.

the experts of the world clearly say you are mistaken, how can you prove them all wrong? just saying something that goes against the scientific consensus is deeply inefficient to prove this is the case. Is there any institution of medicine or science that says this or is it just something you want to believe?

Covering 3 and leaving 2 wide open is useless.

Again, what evidence do you have to support this personal belief? how come that masks being studied clearly show a benefit? this completely contradicts what you keep repeating (without providing any evidence).

Actually, if you're sick, even w. Covid, you should refrain from going out, just like any other dieases you might have . Just chill and recover without the chance of giving it to anyone else.

It is blatantly obvious that the paper masks the people of Japan wear are useless. Subservience and tunnel vision abounds.

Japan considers letting asymptomatic COVID patients go out if mask worn

Those who test positive yet asymptomatic for covid are not patients.

As if people aren’t doing this already.

As if people aren’t doing this already.

Can confirm. Of course I went to the supermarket to get groceries, etc. while I had COVID. It was the only time in the last 12 months I actually wore a mask.

Japan considers letting asymptomatic COVID patients go out if mask worn

“Consider” seems to be a favorite word in Japan.

Who first will say fake news?

Since your source completely contradicts what the authors of the report concluded, anybody saying it is fake news would be perfectly justified.

If the authors literally say "*Although vaccination has been shown to reduce the incidence of infection and the severity of disease, we did not find large differences in the median duration of viral shedding among participants who were unvaccinated, those who were vaccinated but not boosted, and those who were vaccinated and boosted*." And the article you post completely contradict them It should be obvious who is lying.

Also important is that the study has many limitations that make the results likely to be different in better, bigger studies. Or, as the authors themselves say:

Our results should be interpreted within the context of a small sample size, which limits precision, and the possibility of residual confounding in comparisons according to variant, vaccination status, and the time period of infection

Next time it would be better if you follow the link to the primary source instead of trusting an obviously biased report about it.

Actually, if you're sick, even w. Covid, you should refrain from going out, just like any other dieases you might have . Just chill and recover without the chance of giving it to anyone else.

Yes, but if you're asymptomatic you're not sick, and likely not infectious.

asymptomatic COVID patients are already going out because asymptomatic COVID patients don't know they are COVID patients.

Yes, but if you're asymptomatic you're not sick, and likely not infectious.

Completely false, asymptomatic people conform a big part of the transmission from the pandemic, this has been known for 2 years already, why the need to repeat something everybody already knows to be false?

If covid is really a 'respiratory virus spread by aerosols', masks are completely pointless as can be demonstrated by simple tests, e.g. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hJpS_jajub0.

How does this video disproves the vast amount of research that clearly shows the masks do reduce importantly the transmission? does it even have scientific support?

When you have clear evidence from 2020 and above, that demonstrate the value of masks and you find someone that instead ignores this and pretends science stopped studying them in 2019 you can be sure this person is trying to mislead others by using old, worst evidence because he can't accept better evidence when it contradicts what he thinks "must" be correct.

Here's some Science for the effect they've had on 'the pandemic' too: https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/Fulltext/2022/02180/The_Foegen_effect__A_mechanism_by_which_facemasks.60.aspx

Clearly debunked pseudoscience not supported by the evidence is worse than no evidence in the first place. The report has absolutely no meaning (except as an example of invalid methods and conclusions) because of the terribly obvious use of the Ecological fallacy and trying to force a debunked theory that has clear evidence of being wrong.

According to this study Japan is an example of a population that do not wear masks, because there has never been a mandate for masks. This is obviously completely mistaken. In the same way generalizing from the general population and pretending this applies to the small segment that is being infected makes no scientific sense. That is like saying 99% of the people in a school are minors, so the director that is over 70yo is at no risk from covid, because he belongs to this population.

And you actually believed the articles published ?

Seeing how you can't formulate even one argument to discredit the findings that means this is the only rational thing to do, irrational is to automatically assume everything you don't want to believe is false, even if you can't find even one thing to criticize about it (apart from contradicting your opinion).

The only evidence that science has that's believable is that science will prove itself was previously incorrect.

It's Scientifically proven science isn't a correct science

And that is precisely its best characteristic, the problem for antiscientific people is that science is proved wrong with evidence, not with baseless personal bias and saying "it must be wrong because I am unable to accept I am the one mistaken".

You want to prove these conclusions are false? then provide more and better evidence than what supports the current medical consensus. You cant? that means you are the one in the wrong.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government would "thoroughly discuss" the policy before deciding whether to implement it.

Hmm seems inaccurate

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government would "thoroughly discuss" the policy before implementing it.

There

How is it possible that they are so fixated on the mask?

For most Japanese they probably wear it unconsciously , second nature

Japan considers letting asymptomatic COVID patients go out if mask worn

There is no control when infected about your move. People need to eat and some have to go out to buy food.

I was more controlled through the MySOS app last year after returning from overseas, than when I had covid recently.

therougou Today 10:40 am JST

asymptomatic COVID patients are already going out because asymptomatic COVID patients don't know they are COVID patients.

This is absolutely correct and accurate. I'm on the side of science and masks, but 'therougou' has captured the the impossibility of managing the situation now.

If you have symptoms, do the right thing and isolate. If not; carry on I think.

Japan currently has some of the highest number of Covid cases in the world even when the majority of the population is still masked up. What does that say about the effectiveness of masks? Not much. 

Do you know how much this says about your level of intelligence?

Yeah

Yes, but if you're asymptomatic you're not sick, and likely not infectious.

Been established long ago that asymptomatics are also infectious

Please let go of the masks. They are not working.

For those claiming they are, explain high cases numbers here and elsewhere where mask wearing is widespread.

Explain how places such as Germany and Spain who mandated masks fared no better (indeed worse) than countries in Europe who didn't have mask mandates.

Explain why airlines were so quick to drop them half a year ago and there was no huge uptick in clusters on flights.

Explain why even Singapore has dropped the need to wear them indoors?

Explain why school age children should wear them when it impacts their social development and learning and has had no impact on cases.

Now as for spreading the virus when you have no symptoms. Please give numbers. I know this was considered extremely rare early on in the pandemic. I believe there is a common belief that asymptomatic spread is as likely as symptomatic spread when this is nonsense. This also feeds the fear of mask wearing...maybe I have it even if I feel fine...and maybe a piece of cloth will do something to stop spreading something I don't have. Which is obviously lunacy no matter how "well intentioned".

And do we go on living like this indefinitely when the rest of the world moved on a very long time ago?

Please let go of the masks. They are not working.

For those claiming they are, explain high cases numbers here and elsewhere where mask wearing is widespread.

Are there posters claiming masks work?

If there are there's no need for it, that masks work has long been established.

It's you who need to prove your claim that masks aren't working

Please let go of the masks. They are not working.

For those claiming they are, explain high cases numbers here and elsewhere where mask wearing is widespread.

This has been explained repeatedly, omicron has a much higher transmissibility which makes all measures less effective, that does absolutely nothing to prove measures become 0% effective as you mistakenly propose.

For that you need to prove that not wearing masks would not cause 2, 20 or 200 times more cases than currnetly happening, without that evidence then the conclusion that mask work based on experimental and epidemiological data still holds true.

Explain why airlines were so quick to drop them half a year ago and there was no huge uptick in clusters on flights.

How do you know this? cases have been rising all around the world, it would be huge news that only people travelling by plane are not included.

The real reason is that risk AFTER infection has become much lower, so measures are focused on keeping it that way. Still reducing the number of infections is still something with value. So it is still valid to promote it, it is just not as essential as in the beginning of the pandemic where measures against infection were more effective and infections were also more dangerous than now (with vaccines and specific treatments).

Explain why school age children should wear them when it impacts their social development and learning and has had no impact on cases.

Because experts consider the cost of children being exposed to risks for their health (including risks that are just being discovered) also something that requires attention. As with everything else there is a balance to be reached, a limited and temporary impact on social development can be offset with the benefit on their health by preventing them from being infected. Children also get sick, hospitalized, spend time in the ICU or die because of covid.

I believe there is a common belief that asymptomatic spread is as likely as symptomatic spread when this is nonsense.

There is no belief involved, asymptomatic people can spread the infection even if not as likely as symptomatic people

https://www.who.int/vietnam/news/detail/14-07-2020-q-a-how-is-covid-19-transmitted

Can people without symptoms transmit the virus?

Yes, infected people can transmit the virus both when they have symptoms and when they don’t have symptoms. This is why it is important that all people who are infected are identified by testing, isolated, and, depending on the severity of their disease, receive medical care. Even people confirmed to have COVID-19 but who do not have symptoms should be isolated to limit their contact with others. These measures break chains of transmission.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/covid-transmission-asymptomatic/story?id=84599810

As usual the problem is thinking you have a better grasp of the primary sources (scientific reports) than the scientific and medical authorities that keep recommending use of masks and warn about asymptomatic people being an important source of transmission. This makes absolutely no sense, that is their job, what they do professionally for a living.

The idea that if you don't know about reports proving something then those reports don't exist and the professionals are just recommending things out of thin air is not rational and only leads to being mistaken.

Crowd immunity

As i said before if you were paying attention

Scientifically proven that science isn't a correct science.

That still does not mean it is the best tool being found until now to find out what is actually real or not.

Iam not anti-science just because i recognize one completely obvious characteristic about the scientific process.

What you are is using an illogical argument to defend a mistaken conclusion. Science is not wrong about everything, in fact is the most correct it has ever been precisely because of the self correction nature of the method.

You think one specific conclusion is false? prove it scientifically. You can't then that conclusion is still valid and true, and will be until disproven with evience.

@virusrex, Dr. Kary Mullis invented PCR technology. He made the claim that it is an insufficient tool to diagnose illness and infection, not me. It was provided as a solution to track covid under emergency use authorization and thus not regulated by the normal scrutiny. The cycle threshold used to detect SARS-CoV-2 is high enough to detect genetic material even in the absence of a viral infection. This is the reason why there were so many "asymptomatic cases".

WeiWeiToday  07:03 am JST

Again Japan with the magic mask! Why these people cannot THINK? How is it possible that they are so fixated on the mask?

It is because they are japanese. They fixate on things and just won't let it go no matter how illogical it is.

Unless the masks are rated N95 or better they are absolutely no better than no mask!

What’s stopping them now? Certainly no laws.

I don't have to formulate an argument to discredit the findings because they will Scientifically discredit themselves with new findings

The same as the microbial theory of infection has discredited itself? or the antibiotic effect on bacteria?

Your complete misunderstanding is believing everything the science finds is wrong, (which obviously is nonsense) the actual reasoning is that everything that science find MAY be wrong, as long as enough evidence is found that contradicts it.

The fact that you can't even make an argument about how something is supposedly wrong is precisely the reason why the only rational conclusion is that this something is actually correct.

@virusrex, Dr. Kary Mullis invented PCR technology. He made the claim that it is an insufficient tool to diagnose illness and infection, not me.

That is still completely false, why don't you check the actual reference from where this myth comes from? it do not refer to infection, just to the disease, which obviously is not what the test is being used for (it is not a test to diagnose covid, just to detect infection which is perfectly valid)

Mullis was also completely wrong about HIV causing AIDS, and continued to repeat his mistake for a long time after it was proved against any reasonable doubt that AIDS was caused by HIV infection, as a reference for what is a valid use for the technology he is a very poor one, because he demonstrated he could be totally wrong about it and even worse that he refused to accept scientific evidence of him being wrong.

Unless the masks are rated N95 or better they are absolutely no better than no mask!

The data from studies with masks and their effect completely contradict you, which is why recommending masks (3 ply ones included) is the consensus, do you have any data to prove the doctors and scientists of the world are all wrong and you right?

the slow. steady, and silent walkback of each and every covid mandate continues.

Contrary to what antiscientific fanatics repeated it would happen the measures are all temporary and used only while covid represents a risk above other respiratory infections. They are made to be reduced and eventually disappear in the same way the risk is reduced. That is what the experts have been repeating would happen, no surprises here.

What’s stopping them now? Certainly no laws.

I think with current policy that requires them to not go out government has to provide food and/or other basic necessities.

They're struggling to cope with the large number of cases