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© KYODOUp to 300 people per day breaking self-quarantine pledge in Japan
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jiji Xx
that's the trouble with that word "pledge"....
Ricky Sanchez
This is why you just close the border. Problem solved.
virusrex
Now imagine what is happening with the much more numerous local cases that are also supposedly self isolating but have even less control.
Darius
Yes, and that's including government officials.
JeffLee
The system seems pretty weak and lax.
Peter Neil
The whole world and most people in it seem pretty weak and lax...
timeon
I think the borders are closed for all new entries, these people are Japanese and foreig residents coming back to Japan
kurisupisu
Pathetic Japan, just pathetic...
Yubaru
Which says you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, and posted this just to stir the pot!
Pachinko parlors and the people that run them, know the risks of their business and have taken better precautions to protest themselves and their customers, than probably any government office here! Also if you have actually ever been in one, particularly now during the COVID pandemic, you would educate yourself and get out from under the blanket of ignorance!
Oh and please share, just how many cases or clusters have been reported as starting from a pachinko parlor?
kurisupisu
Most of these people not adhere to the rules are Japanese as foreigners risk visa cancellation and deportation.
I went through quarantine in the UK and on a certain day got a visit from two uniformed police in an unmarked car.
I understood that I had ( no matter my own personal opinion nor fear of a fine) a duty to make sure that I was virus free.
If Japan wants to make sure people are safe on return then charge people to be tested at home and include that charge in the price of a ticket!
Cricky
Well I’ve received lots of pledges from the government, none of them materialize, no private security guards hunting them down, or prosecutors. Not advocating breaking quarantine, my point? weak governance total lack of leadership. Want people to follow you guidance follow it yourselves!
Yubaru
When you input a system that allows people to leave their places of quarantine, to buy food, and other necessities, without any supervision or prior notification, you have only yourself to blame for problems when they occur.
Not to mention also allowing multiple people to stay in the same "quarantine" location as well!
The government has no one but itself to blame here, and out sourcing the work, moves the blame to a private company, as there are MORE than enough, so called "civil servants" available to do this.
Yubaru
And I have a greater chance of getting his by a car crossing the street too!
This comment says, to me anyway, that the government does not trust it's own methods of testing! Considering that prior to flying, they have to provide proof of a PCR test conducted 72 hours prior to departure, and then another one upon arrival as well. (Most other places also require one at the 11th or 12th day of quarantine, prior to getting out, but not here)
The odds of both the pre-flight test, and arrival test as being "false-negative" are slim at best, and one would have a better chance of winning the lottery!
But these talking heads have to make as many excuses for their failures in doing their jobs!
obladi
2-300 out of 24,000 is close to 1% (if I read it correctly).
That's close to 99% compliance.
Isn't that much higher than expected?
NAM
They should make it more like they do in Australia. Over there, people coming from a road have to stay for 2 weeks in a designated hotel and pay for it themselves. It's a lot easier to monitor and control then.
Chabbawanga
Are the borders open?
purple_depressed_bacon
Ooooh, so scary! Revealing names to the pubic for not "honoring their pledge"! Yeah, that's going to keep the people in line.,.not.
kohakuebisu
True, but they are only being checked once a day, presumably by GPS which will have a certain margin of error. If the test is at a similar time every day (bureaucrats remember), people will notice this by the third or fourth day. Its not hard to do what you are told once a day.
Mr Kipling
Calm down! 200-300 out of 24,000 isn't too bad. I would expect the figure to be much higher. But obviously zero would be ideal.
AG
Quarantines are very difficult to control and humans being humans end up going out even just for a few moments.
Those moments are enough to transmit the virus to someone on the lift, etc.
On top of that most people are doing quarantine with their families, meaning that they are having direct contact with people who will go to workplaces and schools.
While Australia and New Zealand are being very extreme in regards to quarantines, they are the only ones doing the right thing. You must completely isolate these individuals, otherwise there is no point of asking people to do it at all.
Japan, being an island, could have controlled the number of infections from day one, just by implementing a this measure, along with mass testing and contact tracing when everything started.
AustPaul
The system here may not be perfect but mandatory quarantine in a designated facility would probably be the right way to go. Oh an legislation with teeth if people fail to comply/breach quarantine etc.
None of this ‘pledge’ business…
Alex
its seems that only a small percentage of people are taking the virus seriously, to most it seems like it’s just a flu.
Steve
It's very easy to get around this. My friend is in "self-quarantine" after coming back from overseas. Still goes out every night, he just has to leave his phone at home.
Jeremy Rigby
The government was foolish to believe people can be trusted and here is the proof. Do these people and the government not see what is happening in Brazil and India. The threat is very real.
Derek Grebe
I'm shocked - shocked - to learn that citizens are not complying with what they said they would do, after a year of watching LDP cronies flagrantly having group slap-up steak dinners, hostess club nights and all manner of other virus-ignoring junkets on our dime.
Why must taxpayers break the rules our overlords have taught us are optional?
thelonius
So, in other words, Japanese people get off light; foreign residents have their lives destroyed.
James
Not much of a surprise when Suga came back from his Asian tour and then from the US he didn't quarantine so why should he expect his citizens to do it what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
Pukey2
The most infamous one was that Japanese guy who decided he didn't need to quarantine, went out to have dinner with friends, gave them the UK variant and they subsequently passed it onto others. There should be punishment, and yet the government only comes down hard on the foreigners, as theIonius says.
kurisupisu:
Exactly.
BTW, will you be back after your second shot?
Simplefacts
Lets look at the numbers. 24,000 are supposed to be in quarantine out of that number 300 are breaking quarantine that is about 0.125. Which means 98.75% are following the rules. Now lets look at the population of Japan:
I wonder who is the 0.0125%. The government should release the nationality of those who are breaking rules.
Either way, close to 99% are following the rules. Good Job Japan.
Phil
Forgive me if I have misunderstood. Health Ministry official has said not to rely heavily on the airport test. Yet people involved in the Olympics will be given an airport test and not be required to quarantine. Then these people could be scattered around Japan for training camps before they are allowed in the Olympics village.
So is this one of the “enhanced measures” we keep hearing about?
didou
Why after two or three consécutives tests people should quarantine anyway, while others are free to go in more risky places such as night bars in Ginza or Kabukicho without test and taking trains.
If I go back to my country, I will have to undergo a total of 5 tests, 2 on the way home , three in the way back.
if all are negative, I still have to comply with a two weeks quarantine on the way back
To be honest, I won’t feel to cooperate when the authorities will confirm if I am at home or not.
In the first place, a quarantine is designated to isolate people without test. That’s what it used to be. With that corona fear circus, it has changed and now isolation is required even without symptoms and negative tests. That’s not logical at all.
AustPaul
Remember, it only takes one person to pass it on, 2-300 might seem a small amount but if a few of those were carrying the virus and not ‘pledging’ to stay quarantined then it can easily be passed onto others and so forth…..that’s why numbers are most likely increasing. Maybe you should tell this to your friend Steve!
Oh and if the foreign residents are threatened with deportation I’d say they would be complying more than returning Japanese, after all, they have more to lose.
robert maes
300 is completely underestimated, I think 90 % or more do not comply fully. And comply with what because guidelines are all fluid
falseflagsteve
And anyone is surprised? When life goes on as normal and we see people enjoying themselves, people, will not stay in and be miserable.Japan has dealt with Covid in contradictory add frankly very queer ways. Travel promotions mixed in with requests to remain at home are bizarre to say the least.
The people were tested as negative so they are as unlikely to be carrying as much as anyone else in the population.
Tom Doley
What is it with pledges in Japan? So pathetic. 300 per day is a lot. If Japan was serious about it, they should enforce it. Send them to jail, then see the 300 drop to 1 idiot per day.
Pukey2
simplefacts:
I agree. Then perhaps you might stop your baseless theories.
Sven Asai
Popular rules need limitations, unpopular rules need enforcement. lol
gaijintraveller
What I would like to know is how many of the 300 are Olympic athletes or connected with the Olympics.
Richard Gallagher
Actually, quite extraordinary the government would expect folks to be honest. Which is to be lauded. The behavior of individuals who fail to do so, speaks to more than a mere character flaw.
Send them to jail, the mantra of the intolerant. Others claiming with absolutely no evidence, knowledge or fact that the violators are Japanese because natives face no consequences. Forgetting or simply ignorant of the notion of shame.
As for foreigners violating the agreement, that they are sent back to where they came from is welcome.
Mr Kipling
Therse are not 300 people with Covid-19. They have been tested within 72 hours of departure, then on arrival in Japan. They have just passed TWO tests within 5 days. The chances of both being false is quite slim. Also the chance of being infectious after day 10 is probably very low. There are much worse things to panic about.
didou
After a few consecutive negative tests and no symptoms, endangering others ?
Media brainwashing and constant fear mongering since the corona started endangers people mind and thinking.
Better to keep a free mind than being constantly brainwashed and kept under state control
drlucifer
Enough with the stupidity, these morons waste 3.9 billion yen on a useless cocoa tracing app and on top of that hire a security firm and paying billions again for the simple task of making a few phone calls a day. As if they are on a mission to empty the treasury dry they have come up with another useless app costing 7.3 billion yen for tracing foreigners, Singapore, Taiwan, SK have apps that have been tested and proven efficient why not adopt one from these countries and adapt it to japanese language, it won't cost one-thousand what the 3.9 billion useless cocoa app cost. When will people realize that bureaucrats and the LDP have sworn an oath to enslave the populace,
vendingmachinemusic
Its crazy you see this with people on instagram all the time. In a foreign country one day, on the plane the next stating back to Japan, two days later eating out with their friends.
Maybe we need to make an instagram for all the offenders out there and cancel some of the kabajyo. And too bad the govt does nothing to the prevent this.
smithinjapan
"Even if the results are negative, people are asked to pledge they will self-quarantine for 14 days in their home, a hotel or another facility."
Well, that's the problem. A PLEDGE. It's about as valuable as government pledges and vows. Japanese society doesn't live by any kind of honor system anymore, even though they might have more in the past when more cooperation with neighbors in tightly packed communities was necessary.
What you DO, is make LAWS, which are punishable if not abided by. What are these security service people going to do if they find someone who pledged to self quarantine?
Security: Excuse me! You promised to stay home!
Them: I mostly do, but it's not law, and everyone else is out, so I thought I'd come to Starbucks. Nice chin-warmer, by the way! And who are these other people standing beside you holding signs?
Security: My support staff. But that's not the point. Come on, now. You promised!
Them: Again, why should I, when no one else will? Why aren't YOU at home? Why do you have these support staff standing shoulder to shoulder with you?
Security (lifting mask over face): uh... look, most people didn't just come back from overseas --
Them: Where most people are vaccinated --
Security: .... be that as it may, you PROMISED!
Them: And Suga pledged to have the virus eradicated by now. So?
Security: That's different! Look, could you please just go home, or to a hotel? It would be less regrettable.
Them: Ummm... no. Now please go away. If it'll help, you can pledge to do so.
drlucifer
It is not only Kim who has the brainwashing play book,
Hey look we are special and unique we beat this virus or kept it under control just from urging from the government no hard lockdowns like in some foreign countries that despite that still experience rising cases, this type of narrative makes every national feel proud.
drlucifer
Surprised that most here really believe that the number is only 300. As with most of the numbers, heaviky watered down.
Mr Kipling
The real problem isn't these tested and presumably negative people "popping out to buy milk". Its those who have tested positive, are known to have the virus and are walking around freely instead of staying home as requested. How many of them are there?
Richard Burgan
I guess it's time to turn the "pledge" into a contract. The contract can specify a penalty for breaking it. Say, stay in our jail (at 25,000 JPY per day) for 14 days after which a negative PCR test is required.
Do the hustle
And you wonder why Japan is having difficulty controlling the virus. Oh, der!
geronimo2006
Considering there are around 5000 cases a day in Japan, it seems hardly worth asking people who have been tested twice to self-quarantine. Here is a much better idea. Test a LOT more people in Japan, vaccinate more people FASTER, and stop pretending it's a foreign problem.
justasking
Yup, another Kyodo news. Before, it was the EU's fault that the vaccine roll out was slow in Japan because of "shortage of supply". Now, it's the virus coming from the outside that's causing the surge in the country.
The Editor-in-Chief of this news company needs to be replaced.
kurisupisu
It doesn’t matter what freedoms we think are being trampled on.
It is about protecting others from infection.
I stayed in a hotel until my 5th day until I had another test at Heathrow airport. The result was negative and I got to move around freely.
I routinely check my temperature and wear a mask in enclosed spaces.
Either we make an effort to abide by the rules or we do not.
The result is more cases or less cases.
I’ll be back to Japan after my second shot but well before that I will be making good on the economic uptick that the UK is experiencing...
Proper Science
The narrative is so skewed that you would believe Japan is experiencing some kind of disaster, when it cannot even compare a little bit with western countries and their mortality rates.
My only thing I have to say is, if you are calling for more restrictions and regulations while you are also a foreigner in Japan, don't blame other but yourself if you are not allowed into the country in the near future, or if you become in some other way victim to the restrictions put in place.
wtfjapan
Either way, close to 99% are following the rules. Good Job Japan.
thats all covid needs 1% of the population not doing their part to contain this pandemic , then infection spread exponentially , and another lockdown is imposed, and these same morons scream the loudest of their freedoms and their rights as more people die.
Kyakusenbi_Arimasu
@Yubaru: At the Pachinko places in Machida, Sagamiono, and Chuorinkn, they line up early everyday back to back and there is no social distancing. And lots of them getting in their last smokes as well.
Perhaps Okinawa is more spacious?
El Rata
Public shaming? Who cares? A JP acquaintance of mine just came from the Maldives, as soon as he got home he erased the tracking and other apps, he is actually waiting for his name to appear in the shaming list to brag about it to other friends. If they really want people to comply they should start by making it illegal otherwise people won't care.
I myself would do it but I don't want a stick up my nose 3 times so I'll stick to domestic travel for the time being, anyway isn't this the most beautiful nation on earth? Obviously if you're not a Japanese national or they make it really illegal, don't even try it.
purple_depressed_bacon
Is anybody really surprised by this? Japan's got a reputation for not treating its foreign residents the same as the local populace.
David Shawn Kanda
@Yubaru
Simian Lane makes a good point here, and in defense of such, I agree Pachinko parlors are a haven for derelicts and low lifes. It's basically a disguise for illegal gambling. They're are usually run by the Yakuza.
So, yes, stupid people who are known to break the rules could be found frequenting such venues.
Pukey2
kurisupisu:
That's good news. Did you pay for the vaccination or did you enjoy the free services of the NHS as a resident of Japan?
Hiroshi13
Not that I would ever advocate doing this but what prevents any of these people from leaving their phone at home and then going anywhere they please? It's not like they're wearing a GPS ankle-bracelet.
Hiroshi13
@wtfjapan ...thats all covid needs 1% of the population not doing their part. Please share with us that one moment in recorded history when an entire population accomplished anything at 100%. I'll wait.
Christopher Glen
“The whole world and most people in it seem pretty weak and lax...”
Except you perhaps?
Christopher Glen
“Itdoesn’t matter what freedoms we think are being trampled on”.
Yes it does. If response to Covid was proportionate to its danger, I might agree. Instead, we are embracing totalitarian measures as the new norm. I have doubts world governments will give up the powers they’ve assumed.