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Japan warns of swiftly rising COVID cases; Tokyo raises alert to highest level

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But he said hospital bed usage remained low, as did the number of serious cases and deaths.

Great.

18 ( +24 / -6 )

I wonder if there is any chance my idiot boss might recalibrate his opinion that it's vital that all his staff need to commute from all over the Kanto plain to sit cheek-by-jowl all day in an unventilated room until someone gets sick, when we can work just as well and much more safely from home?

Nah, it's probably fine.

5 ( +17 / -12 )

Still, Japan is not yet considering any sort of limitation on movements and activity, Economy Minister Daishiro Yamagiwa said

This is evident that they are, in fact, considering "limitation on movements and activity" (coded language for reduced dining hours and alcohol serving ban).

Cases will rise over the next few weeks, probably also hospitalizations and deaths, and then you will hear the familiar chorus of people screaming at the government to "do something", and they will in fact do something, it won't curb cases or solve the problem but it will inevitably frustrate young people and foreigners. Because like I have been saying, they can't help themselves.

4 ( +15 / -11 )

Where is that pub alley in the picture? Nakano Station? Kita-senju?

5 ( +10 / -5 )

No worries ladies and gentlemen, the hospitals aren’t overflowing and there aren’t any dead on the streets…

10 ( +21 / -11 )

Finally rich - asking the important questions! It is Shinjuku Omoide Yokocho 新宿思い出横丁

9 ( +12 / -3 )

Just worried one of my kids will catch it before we travel to see their grandparents for the first time in 3 years. Their schools don't seem to care anymore, only closing individual classes for 2 days when a number of kids got the virus, while they used to just close for the rest of the week. Understandable considering the symptoms are light for most, but worrying when you are about to travel...

Also hope Kishida doesn't start tinkering with the border policies again, considering that's all he seems to know how to do...

9 ( +14 / -5 )

Yes, want to go to that pub alley soonest

any advice on where it is much appreciated

thanks JT Eds for using. More such advice on where to enjoy Tokyo nightlife would be much more appreciated than meaningless Covid updates.

1 ( +11 / -10 )

World leaders and health officials really need to look at what the end game of this pandemic should be because it doesn't seem to be going away. The vaccines are becoming less and less effective (I'm sure others think otherwise), and the variants are either becoming more contagious or causing different symptoms. So basically the virus is going to be around for probably a decade or more and I really don't think people want to spend a good portion of their life living in fear of the common cold. 3 years is just around the corner and I have no doubt the headlines aren't going to be much different in 2025 with more waves and daily Covid counts. Time to move on.

6 ( +13 / -7 )

As the case numbers will continue to rise and new record highs not seen before will be seen, the government will be unable to control itself an be force to do something in that wonderful Japanese way of doing something for show, although everyone knows it is pretty much useless, but of course it is the action of doing something thats counts ( Temperature checks still needed in many places are the best example. Everyone knows high temperature is not even such a common feature of omicron and that the number of COVID cases found by these temperature checks is zero)

Expect quasi SOEs and/ or early restaurant closing etc, even tighter border rules .

They will not be able to help themselves as they will have to do something and that is all they know.

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

Separately, land and transport minister Tetsuo Saito, whose portfolio also includes tourism, said this is not the time to start a system of support and subsidies for domestic travel.

Remarkable ability to express what was already completely obvious.

The government seem obstinated to waste the efforts of the population by reacting very slowly to the changing situation. Half of the time the current measures are the opposite of what they should be in place.

Nobody wants to eradicate the disease, but making an effort to control the cases so it can be safely managed by the health services is a completely possible goal.

-7 ( +4 / -11 )

Mask and vaccines are clearly not lessening transmission rates to any great degree, that warrants their use.

Maybe people nearing the end of their life may benefit from some quick immunity from a vaccine to prolong the inevitable. These are really the only people that may benefit from them. As it has been from the start.

I remember when the so-called vaccines 'breakthrough' cases were extremely rare.

The definitions of 'extremely rare' will have to be changed along with 'safe' and 'effective' and even what a vaccine is (as the meaning was adjusted not so long ago)

Was about the time the 'rare' breakthrough cases were a reason that the 'vaccines' were supposedly 'effective'. - you were considered a loon for suggesting they were going to go for a 3rd Jab, then a 4th, 5th etc.

I remember a term - Fully vaccinated (reclassified to up to date) - funnily also considered a loon if thought this was inevitable.

For the vast majority of people who just get minor cold like symptoms, C19 is not worth bothering about.

To waste so much resources and medical waste damaging the environment to try to pretend to avoid these cold like symptoms is mind-blowing. People used to think plastic bags and straws were bad.

To have to lose work, get tested etc etc over this is stupidity at it's finest.

People need to look around and trust the science, not the well funded scientists.

6 ( +15 / -9 )

Just before school holidays again. Like the last 4 or five times.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

no face masks are stopping viruses.no vaccines are stopping viruses.

two facts need to keep in mind.

take care go on with your usual life.

0 ( +12 / -12 )

Great news hospitalisations not carrying over from infections! Time to get used to Covid as the cold it has become!

6 ( +13 / -7 )

Nobody wants to eradicate the disease…

Really? I prove you wrong. I want to eradicate the corona viruses, at minimum by measures they try in China. We simply cannot live normally with the viruses, but we will instead get into waves after another, get severe infections one day sooner or later, become handicapped in private and work life by LongCovid body attacks and will die earlier than necessary at a decreased life expectancy on average, just because we simply age into the vulnerable age groups soon too and then our already weakened and on high alert immune system and body condition can’t stand the next round. But I think you know or can estimate all that too as quite a skilled scientific opinions holder here at JT.

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

Borders have been reopened in beginning of June, middle July infection spikes

Where is the news ?

0 ( +4 / -4 )

But he said hospital bed usage remained low, as did the number of serious cases and deaths

This is due to the high vaccination rate. People have to practice social distancing where possible. The packed peak hour trains are covid factories.

-2 ( +6 / -8 )

No one (at least no one in the medical field) said the masks would fully stop transmission, no one ever said vaccines would fully stop transmission or catching Covid.

Only people saying that are anti masters and antivaxxers that repeat false information to boost their position.

The reality is vaccines reduce transmission, reduce the risks of serious illness and death if you do still catch the virus.

Mask help reduce transmission but are not and have never been said to be 100% effective.

So please the anti masters and antivaxxers, give the BS a rest.

-11 ( +6 / -17 )

Seems antivaxers settle now for 'vaccines aren't effective(anymore).'

Not too long ago it was "vaccines are more harmful than covid"

-2 ( +10 / -12 )

kurisupisu

Today 03:28 pm JST

I would rather die at a younger age and live freely than have a long life but "no life!"

Sure then watch the pleas made to the doctor to save your life once you are sick even if that leaves you with less freedom.

I nearly died last November, I now have considerable health issues but despite the new restrictions on my life and the reduced activities and freedom of mobility.

I am darn happy to still be alive, vaccine, mask and travel restrictions all fine, I am alive.

One day you may actually be in the position of deciding life with less or die "free" bet you chose less but life.

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

Mask and vaccines are clearly not lessening transmission rates to any great degree, that warrants their use.Mask and vaccines are clearly not lessening transmission rates to any great degree, that warrants their use.

Let's not parrot this false, agenda-driven mis-information.

True, masks and vaccines are not fool proof. I'm making this number up, grocery under-exaggerating to make a point, but let's say masks and vaccines are only 5% effective (they are more than that). That 5% protection is better than 0%. That's what you need to understand. We have to combine strategies to reduce the probability of infections to the lowest number possible while functioning in a society where the governments aren't invested in helping us.

There's a major misconception that vaccines don't work or are in effective. This is false. The vaccines will not prevent infection, but the provide your immune system with training to get a head start on fighting the virus. The result is lower hospitalizations and deaths among the vaccinated and less burden to the healthcare system.

Masks need to be properly worn for maximum effectiveness. Unfortunately, people just don't understand or care how to wear a mask. But that doesn't make you powerless. You have the power to choose how to wear your mask effectively. Don't buy any mask. If one is too embarrassed for a 95, then get a wire inserted to make it fit tight against the nose. Amazon sells bands that can be attached to the the ear loops to pull the mask tight, into a seal.

We still have tools to fight this, but we need to stay in the fight. Don't give up!

-6 ( +6 / -12 )

AntiqueSaving

You know, I am not in either camp “anti maskers and vaxxer” or “pro masks and vax”, but this firm belief that theres only right and wrong and everything is black and white and anti vs pro is quite ridiculous.

I hope I don’t become like so many have these days, untolerant, closed minded, and so quick to judge en mass.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

treble4punkToday  03:38 pm JST

True, masks and vaccines are not fool proof. I'm making this number up, grocery under-exaggerating to make a point, but let's say masks and vaccines are only 5% effective (they are more than that). That 5% protection is better than 0%. That's what you need to understand.

Sorry but that is not correct. The 5%, 10% or even 20% only continue to prolong the pandemic, with billions and billions wasted around the world for nothing. Pandemic will end the fastest with least restrictions and “measures”. It would already be over if it weren’t for the stupid lockdowns and border closings around the world.

0 ( +8 / -8 )

I nearly died last November, I now have considerable health issues but despite the new restrictions on my life and the reduced activities and freedom of mobility.

Hope you get better soon.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

People made up a lot of lies during Covid.

Right Wing people also tended to reject the rhetoric and Left leaners tended to accept it (in western countries.

The governments and the WHO also lied and covered up, and claimed to know many things that later in hindsight, we can clearly see it for what it was.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Pandemic will end the fastest with least restrictions and “measures”.

Probably.

But only the idiots want it to go through the whole population in the fastest possible way

1 ( +8 / -7 )

thepersoniamnow

Today 03:40 pm JST

AntiqueSaving

> You know, I am not in either camp “anti maskers and vaxxer” or “pro masks and vax”, but this firm belief that theres only right and wrong and everything is black and white and anti vs pro is quite ridiculous.

> I hope I don’t become like so many have these days, untolerant, closed minded, and so quick to judge en mass.

Sorry to disagree with you but yes it is only right or wrong. This is not a cake recipe where one person says sugar and the other say no Honey!

This is science, medical facts.

I have a seriously damaged heart, it was something I was expecting all my life same as my father, uncle, Brothers, hereditary defect.

Breathing isn't easy on a normal day, extremely hot and with a mask on makes life very difficult.

But the facts, the science, the medical consequences are real, they are not a matter of opinion.

I am fully vaccinated but withy heart right now, covid could be a death sentence, that is just a medical fact.

So the logical thing is to do my best based on science and facts to avoid catching it.

And that I clear vaccine and masks, washing hands, etc.. these are not opinions but facts.

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

@Stickman1760

It’s on the west side of the Yamanote line in Shinjuku and north of the station towards Shin-Okubo. It is just about 20 yards from the train track so don’t need to wander into Nishi-Shinjuku.

Other tiny strips of post war Showa can also be found in Ueno near Ameyokocho and there is that alley in Sancha but this one is worth visiting if you’re in this side of town.

A heads-up: I took some American friends there and they took the paper napkins and started wiping down everything in sight - the counter area, their chopsticks, the plates, plastic water cups - which I can understand but could feel the gaze of the others.

It’s not the cleanest but is the most retro place in town.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Really? I prove you wrong. I want to eradicate the corona viruses, at minimum by measures they try in China. 

Correction, nobody rational, realistic is trying to eradicate the virus. Only people that clearly do not understand a realistically impossible goal can be counterproductive.

I would rather die at a younger age and live freely than have a long life but "no life!"

People are having life, just following reasonable precautions, this is not a 100% or else 0% situation.

Sorry but that is not correct. The 5%, 10% or even 20% only continue to prolong the pandemic, with billions and billions wasted around the world for nothing.

Lives saved are not "nothing" just because you don't care about them. People working in health care consider other people lives valuable and thus measures that have demonstrated to help are also something very positive.

Pandemic will end the fastest with least restrictions and “measures”. 

That is the thing, the objective is for the pandemic to end with the least amount of unnecessary death, hoping for everybody to get infected repeatedly no matter how many die is not considered something desirable, except for people that consider everybody else disposable.

The governments and the WHO also lied and covered up, and claimed to know many things that later in hindsight, we can clearly see it for what it was.

What did the WHO lied about? how come the rest of the scientific community did not notice even when they had access to the same information (and reached the same conclusions from it)?

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

It's so funny to read all over again about washing your hands. So, what were you doing so far? Ah, pre and just touch the water with that one finger or maybe two. Back home and just sat to the table and grabbed food? Stop this wash hands nonsense. This is normal routine at least for me. Distance in Tokyo shops? LOL. Streets, definitely possible.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Masks and vaccines do in fact drastically reduce, but do not eliminate the risk of infection. Moreover, vaccination reduces the risk of getting seriously ill.

To claim otherwise is to mark oneself as an unserious being.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Izakaya?; WHAT Izakaya, where?!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Great news hospitalisations not carrying over from infections! Time to get used to Covid as the cold it has become!

Exactly. I tend to see this latest wave as a massive vaccination campaign with a live attenuated virus. Or perhaps a booster campaign since most of us have probably already been infected, whether we know it or not.

Not too long ago it was "vaccines are more harmful than covid"

Yes, that was true then, during alpha and delta; and now with this mild virus...

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Article doesn’t say anything about open borders causing the spread.

Oh! That’s because they aren’t open. Sorry, I forgot.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

There are many different types of natural anti-inflammatory foods and herbs and natural bronchodilators that can help or cure respiratory issues.

When a non-physician is hawking "natural" remedies, run and run fast.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

The Highest Level

This sounds something akin to Dean Wormer's Double-Secret Probation.

I mean if you going on alert, especially a super-duper alert, at least DO something.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Maybe the virus is smarter than us: We develop one strategy, it develops its answer. Until we let nature go.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Please remember Japan has handled the pandemic better than most nations according to the msm and has had over two and a half years to tackle the virus. I suggest a panel of experts be formed and its recommendations going forward be announced by the end of the month.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@virusrex

Thank you for your response.

I am sorry to hear of your suffering.

I have no fear of death itself and when it comes I hope I will be in a position to realise it.

The suffering and pain associated with death is something that is best avoided and that would be a blessing, not to suffer.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Exactly. I tend to see this latest wave as a massive vaccination campaign with a live attenuated virus

An "attenuated virus" that still produces several orders of magnitude more problems than the available vaccines? it makes no sense.

Yes, that was true then, during alpha and delta; and now with this mild virus...

According to the evidence (not in unreviewed manuscript already debunked as invalid) this is not true at all.

I am sorry to hear of your suffering.

It is called having empathy and caring for others enough not to increase their risks for personal convenience. If having reasonable preventive measures means stop having a life for you that would be a much more valid reason to feel sorry for.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

no face masks are stopping viruses.no vaccines are stopping viruses.

no they dont when 10s thousands are packed into trains every morning, social distancing and mask wearing

are mutually inclusive, one without the other has never been a guard against airborne transmissions.

bit like wearing a raincoat, great at stopping you getting wet in the rain, not so great when you jump into a pool

0 ( +2 / -2 )

15 people in the whole of Tokyo hospitalised with severe symptoms.....15!!! Out of how many millions?!?

THIS is the figure that should be reported on....NOT NEW BLEEDIN CASES!!! New case numbers are irrelevant, have been irrelevant since a month or two after the start of this stupid thing. Vaccines are doing their job of reducing symptoms to slight inconvenience.......stop reporting numbers that make things sound like they are worsening. This is fear-mongering at its worst

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Unless you are wearing a fully sealed NBC suit, or properly fitted N95 respirator, then your mask wearing will NOT STOP YOU GETTING THE VIRUS. If you HAVE the virus, a mask can have a small benefit of stopping the largest of drops from entering the atmosphere, as from coughing and sneezing symptoms. BUT if you don't have these symptoms, are asymptomatic, then the "barrier" protection of a mask is almost non-existent. The small micro droplets associated with regular breathing.....still......escape.....the.....mask. Always has and always will. Even worse if you are wearing cloth masks. This is why level 4 virus labs (the type that investigate highly dangerous pathogens) require a positive pressure suit, and not just a surgeons mask.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@Virusrex:

"Nobody wants to eradicate the disease, but making an effort to control the cases so it can be safely managed by the health services is a completely possible goal."

Um, I think everyone wants to eradicate the virus, but we know that's not happening. And doesn't this statement prove your second point:

But he said hospital bed usage remained low, as did the number of serious cases and deaths.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The true scale of current COVID infections is probably not yet apparent, especially as it's becoming apparent that the old tell-tale symptoms no longer apply:

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-sore-throat-now-the-most-common-coronavirus-symptom-data-suggests-12652129

Sore throats, Headaches and Coughs are symptoms of the current strains doing the rounds...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Unless you are wearing a fully sealed NBC suit, or properly fitted N95 respirator, then your mask wearing will NOT STOP YOU GETTING THE VIRUS

But it will reduce the risk. According to science this also applies to asymptomatic people that still shed infectious viral particles and can transmit the disease to others, so the masks are still useful to decrease this, there are studies that demonstrate this and clearly contradicts your comment.

As usual this is not a 100% or else 0% efficacy situation, you don't need a Hazmat suit to reduce your risk of infection in the same way you don't need a carbon fiber/kevlar frame for your car and wear a racing suit and helmet in order to make you safe when driving, a seat belt is still a good measure that can lower your risk.

Um, I think everyone wants to eradicate the virus, but we know that's not happening.

It would be the difference between wanting the virus to be eradicated (as in unexpectedly and without people going out of their way to ensure it) and wanting to eradicate the virus (as in doing something to reach that goal). The first is easy, the second would mean dedicating resources and making it a higher priority than controlling the risk of infection as it is being done now.

And doesn't this statement prove your second point:

Hopefully this can be maintained, vaccination and new variants make this easier now, but it is still possible for things to go out of control so the best thing to do right now is to keep monitoring the situation and react if something changes for the worse.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Agree. I don't see this going away, and doing simple preventative measures helps. But we can't go out ruining peoples lives with economic ruin. That would be wrong.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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