Japan coronavirus cases pass 5,000 as state of emergency fails to keep people home

In contrast to stringent lockdowns in some countries, mandating fines and arrests for non-compliance, enforcement will rely more on peer pressure and a deep-rooted Japanese tradition of respect for authority.

What a joke.

Under a state of emergency where nobody can be forced to close, limiting requests for closure is stupid. They should be increasing, not decreasing the requests. This thing is going to be with us for a long time.

Actually the government said the Olympics were full on until full on emergency.

Because this so called "state of emergency" is not a real state of emergency. What's changed? Very little....people are still riding the crowded transportation system and all snugged up against each other without practicing social distancing. Japan needs to also call a REAL state of emergency for the entire country and not just a few prefectures, otherwise people will just move around to less restricted areas to go shopping, or go to gyms, or whatever, and spread the virus even further.

this thing will be here forever. There is no outrunning the virus. So either be vigilant and live your life or cower in fear and hide forever. Corona virus is the most common cause of flu, infects millions of people worldwide and it kills tens of thousands of people , then came the covid which has infected thousands of people worldwide and became deadly for elderly with underlying health conditions, peole with weak immune defenses, obese, bedridden, and some healthy individuals.

I think the people of Japan are the only ones that can say Should’ve, Could’ve, Would’ve. The J-Gov saw what, where, when and how the Wuhan Virus was affecting other countries. They made the choice to wait 3 months for it to get out of hand before acting. Said before and I’ll say it again, three months of false sense of security.

Legally, the government can do no more. It has reached all the limits that the constitution allows. 

A constitution that does not contemplate scenarios like these. Unfortunately.

A blockade like in the US or Europe. It is not possible. So don't blame the government for inaction. When the danger of the virus is over. I hope that opponents of amending the constitution will understand that a review is urgently needed.

People around the world are ignoring social distancing and stay at home guidelines.

Sometimes they luck out, sometimes they don't as with what's happening in Japan.

The state of emergency seems a bit lax.

Stay away but stay open. Kind of a mixed message.

Japan had more time to prepare for this than any other country and they completely blew it.

I now hear that selfish tokyoites are now flocking to Hokkaido and other regions. Great! Sapporo is probably going back into lock down soon...

The state of emergency fails to keep people home? What a load of bovine excrement! Most people are staying home in the evenings and on the weekends. However, the morning cattle trains are still packed with drones supporting Japan Inc. Nothing will change until venues and public meeting places (pubs, restaurants, etc) are closed. Then, the government needs to stop complaining about economics and start shelling out proper income support to the millions of people that have to stop going to work to control the spread of this virus.

oldman_13Today 07:03 am JST People around the world are ignoring social distancing and stay at home guidelines. Sometimes they luck out, sometimes they don't as with what's happening in Japan.

Well, it depends on the nation or even state or city.

As I wrote before, most nations build up strict measures in 1-2 weeks. Japan will be no exception. To let people get used to 'freedom restrictions' especially in democratic nations.

wait till Golden Week comes and it will be all over the country as everyone heads back to their hometowns taking it with them...

The total number of Japanese novel coronavirus infections hit at least 5,002 on Thursday, NHK public broadcaster said, showing no signs of slowing despite a state of emergency being imposed this week on Tokyo and six other areas.

It's rather inane to expect that a "stay at home" directive is going to have an impact literally the day after it's given. That impact will only be felt a week+ afterwards.

@Burning Bush

January 16th, almost 4 months ago.

3 months not 4 months. And the first two we still had the Olympics. Unless you have 100% recovery rate, it will grow.

So if a business is in the red every month, Burning Bush says but we have revenue.

We need to get perspective. A lot of the newly infected people must have contracted the virus before the state of emergency was declared. You have to take the virus’s incubation period into consideration.

my large Japanese company is still scheduling meetings at the office and I have a large meeting today with clients in the afternoon. I guess head in the sand is the strategy here for corporate Japan

erbaviva

this thing will be here forever. There is no outrunning the virus. So either be vigilant and live your life or cower in fear and hide forever. Corona virus is the most common cause of flu, infects millions of people worldwide and it kills tens of thousands of people , then came the covid which has infected thousands of people worldwide and became deadly for elderly with underlying health conditions, peole with weak immune defenses, obese, bedridden, and some healthy individuals.

You don't appear to realise that the reason "stay at home/social distancing" is the best option is to draw out the stress this will place upon the health system.

And drawing allusions between influenza and COVID-19? Really... I'm not sure what your point is there - you pretty much described everyone (*elderly with underlying health conditions, peole with weak immune defenses, obese, bedridden, and some healthy individuals).*

Japan is living up to its passive aggressive mentality. Not only does this behavioral characteristic manifest itself in many of the crimes in Japan but this so-called emergency measure leads me to believe that it's an inherent trait in the national psyche. Doctors and health experts who have experience with SARS, Ebola, etc have said that you need to act fast, boldly, aggressively, and throw the whole weight of the country behind any measure to combat the pandemic and only then might you be able to contain the spread. Japan's measures and laws preventing a lock down, and lack of economic and social support shows how ill prepared Abe's government is in this crisis.

It goes both ways. Some are negative but reported as positive; and there will be positives reported as negatives. You don’t have the data on the faulty tests.

If the tests are faulty, they’re expressed by percentage of accuracy. Even if faulty, you will still have accuracy just not 100%.

Pneumonia patients aren’t put on ventilators are they?

Also... the flu is not commonly caused by a corona virus.

"For the time being, we won't hesitate to take additional monetary easing steps if needed, with a close eye on developments regarding the coronavirus outbreak."

People won’t stay at home since there isn’t any government monetary incentive to do so.

The government thinks everyone will just stop doing what they need to do?

The Japanese government’s‘ stimulus’ of buying company stocks won’t put food on the dinner table will it?

Thats why I’m off out this morning...

ps.When do my masks arrive?

Just goes to show that the idea of "peer pressure" and "social cooperation" is in reality a myth when it comes to many Japanese.

Those of us who have lived here for a while know all about this, but the image from abroad is that ALL Japanese follow the rules, and go out of their way to NOT cause problems for others in society.

Rather shocking to some, but personally speaking, and sadly too, the country is going to need to wake the hell up and realize what is going on, before it becomes too late!

Once declared by the central government, the state of emergency gives local governors stronger legal authority to urge people to stay home and businesses to close.

Only in Japan do the authorities need legal authority to urge. What a joke.

“fails to keep people home”

rubbish! People in the most part are doing a very good job at staying in,where possible.

They are just trying to pass the buck onto the population when it should fall on Abe & Co for dropping the ball and prioritizing the Olympics over the lives of the people. The proof is in the pudding.

TIJ

A friend of mine who works for a school in Den En Chofu told me yesterday that the school will not close down because the emergency warning came from Abe, not from Koike, and therefore Tokyo residents are not obliged to heed it. Kind of a States' Rights kind of issue.

Or rather, a bleed-every-yen-we-can-out-of-these- foreigners-until-too many-of-them-fall-critically-ill-to-keep-the-school-open issue.

Naturally, the owner of the school who is demanding the teachers show up every day is self-isolating at her very comfortable home while the teachers have to trek an hour into work on public transport or go without pay.

I wonder how many more businesses are abusing their staff like this?

How many cases until we just stop counting and can go back to our normal lifes?

Clearly this isn't going to disappear by May 6

These half measures are to slow the spread only, not eradicate the virus

Burning BushToday  07:00 am JST

5000 is actually relatively small when compared to other countries.

If this were "exponential, then we'd be at 5 million by now since it started on January 16th, almost 4 months ago.

In Australia, we are the first country that placed restrictions on people coming from Wuhan and then other countries like Iran and SK. We did not have many cases and we thought we would be safe. Too bad we did not know that the virus had already widely spreaded to Europe and the USA. The Aussies returning from these regions spreads the virus at home and accounts for many of the confirmed case in Australia. Same thing happened in Singapore, too when overseas Singaporeans started returning home then things got worse and it is now in lockdown until early May.

was it a state of emergency though? maybe a state of complacency? Half measures on exponential growth aren't going to work. Given the work culture we could be looking at another Italy

''...a deep-rooted Japanese tradition of respect for authority.''

Sorry but...Hahhahaha!! I said on the day Abe made his annoucement, we would see which companies and Boards of Education had respect for authority.

Well done to the companies and individuals that have acted responsibly.

Those who haven't (many Boards of Education)...you are betraying your own people.

5000 is actually relatively small when compared to other countries.

If this were "exponential, then we'd be at 5 million by now since it started on January 16th, almost 4 months ago.

It's also important to note, they're counting the accumulated total, not the currently active cases.

A lot of people have since recovered and should be removed from the so-called "confirmed cases" count.

This is a false assertion. Way to many broad assumptions with this statement seeing as no large general population testing was done with the public. Therefore your assumption that this number is low is based off false positives. The community at large including Japan itself, which is now beginning to make efforts to test more individuals has accepted the fact that it requires more testing.

The Japanese media has repeatedly pointed out their there are numerous clusters showing with no links as to how they started. This horse has been beat to death, resurrected and beat to death over and over again.

Japan did not do wide testing and therefore there clusters are appearing with no links as to how the infected were infected. Therefore, a comparison between countries in this instance is dubious at best. Surely you understand that. If not, please further investigate the principles of statistical sampling because as a professional that uses statistics daily, the statistical baseline or your argument is incorrect.

A lot of scientists around the world are starting to claim that the test kits are faulty and delivering false positives.

Even people who die of pneumonia from another infection are testing "positive" for corona with the simple test but failing it on the more advanced blood tests.

So their deaths are being incorrectly attributed to corona.

Statisticians are comparing morbidity rates in Italy from March 2020 to March 2019 and actually finding only a small increase. Meaning that a lot of the old people who died were likely to die at that time anyways, they didn't die because of a new virus.

This is a logical fallacy. The argument was that you were asserting that this virus does not deem the amount of attention in the media, political, and economical realms for several weeks on this comment area. Your argument does not refute what the above person stated.

For your comment, thankfully the government of Japan, albeit a tad tardy but it is not alone in that category, seems to disagree with you. The government has went from definitively hosting thew Olympics during a pandemic to canceling the Olympics, releasing a stimulus package, governors instituting a lock down within the definitions and confines of their legal systems, increased testing, and declaration of emergency. It would appears that the government of Japan along with various other nations, healthcare professionals, and scientist disagree with your assertion that this deserves less attention.

I personally agree with the rest of the world on this seeing as my immediate family is on the front lines in two fighting this and I am actively working with my agency to fight this epidemic. After seeing the results of those sick with this and how it effects people of all ages, This disease is serious and it needs to be taken seriously. As a citizen of one of those nations, i can say we did not act fast enough and we should have treated this virus with much more respect than we did. Watching someone fight to breath while trying to pull out ventilator tubes because their lungs are filled up is not a pretty site. It is especially uneasy when it is someone in the same age demographic as you. ( I'm 38 btw).

My daughter and I haven't left my house except to go to the grocery store or the bank (once) in the last 40 days.

It's really hard not to feel anger towards all of these people who are just going about their lives as if they're invincible.

Really, really hard.

I Don't get it , why is it that Japan almost always is has to be REACTIVE. All Mr Abe and his government has to do is to look at Europe and the USA.!!!

Lock it down NOW, Don't hope or wish, and stop dreaming.

The scary thing is Golden Week is just weeks away. I have not been hearing much about what people should not do. Abe San should be on TV everything reminding people not to go on trips, not to go back to home towns. It needs to start now. Its already too late really. Tourists sites and souvenir shops need to be closed.

If not GW will still be GW for for many. I have heard from many parents, my wife included " I feel sorry for the kids, just want to d something for them" How about worry for them and keep them out of harms way.

Hate to say but Japan's restrictive constitution, Abe San's indecisiveness, and a large number of the general population's blase attitude. (not all, but large) Will/ might force herd immunity on us.

We might not see 50km GW traffic jams, but people will still get up and about, no doubt.

A latency of up to 2 weeks and they are expecting results in 2 days? Way too soon to call this one.

I think something wrong highlighting explosive numbers of affected by this Covid-19 symptoms, incubed virus reaction is approximately 2 weeks to find it symptom from medical view. Many people went out to see Sakura blossoms including Akie's get together a couple of weeks ago. The figures might be count from the date of emergency state which was declared 2 days ago. and see how it'll work. I guess it will be much less the numbers to compare yesterday's one. Focusing Tokyo and Osaka.

@savethegaijin

The sun is shining and the birds are singing and the sunlight is creating vitamin D in my body aiding my immune system.

And tell us all how you and your daughter manage to stay at home?

Are you both living off your pensions?

I don’t believe most commentators are into science. I am certified in 4 major areas of science with a masters degree for teaching them. So if you are really curious, look up the gene sequencing of he virus, and the origins of it. Most of the testing in America proves that its strain in general, came out of Europe, and in particular Italy.

Japan is trying to reduce infection numbers since the state of emergency is declared. But It can never make zero infection soon. It takes a lot of time. All the J govt can do is It must maintain less than 100 infected people at least everyday, hospitals would not be out of control or in big panic like America, Italy,,,. Virus peak/spike seems 2 weeks away if they can maintain less than 100 people, Yesterday was 181 infected people. They can hold/maintain around 100 people in 2 weeks, 90 people in another week, 50 people would be in 4 weeks after the state emergency if more people can stay home as much as they can.

Lock it down NOW

Japan doesn't have such law of lockdown of city/town and also martial law (most states have) to be able to force people to do it. Japan is a freedom country.

When Abe pays say 80 % of my salary and my health insurance & pension then I will stay home.

I don't see him doing that!

Off to work but I can telework from the office and I can commute on foot.

In order for a country to tell its people to stay home in a crisis it must offer its people financial support to do so.

This is not forthcoming from Abe.

It is not the plague... 5000 positives means nothing. You have to see how mane degenerate. I have freinds that did the virus and went over it without any issue.

@Reckless

I'm not speaking to people who have no choice but to work. They're the ones who deserve the most sympathy.

@kurisupisu

No, unfortunately until last week my poor husband had to go to work. He petitioned for his coworkers to be sent home weeks earlier and volunteered to be the point of contact between them and the higher-ups who refused to close down. Thankfully since the emergency declaration, he's now working from home.

I care for my daughter, my older in laws and work part time but I've not been able to work as my young daughter is home from school. So no, I don't have the luxury to soak up that sunshine and beautiful weather. It's not worth risking it.

If this were "exponential",...

Just be patient and give people more time to...

Most of the testing in America proves that its strain in general, came out of Europe, and in particular Italy.

That is largely because most cases in American are from people who traveled to Europe though.

https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/economics/economic_confe/list/CK2020040802000149.html

It seems that the so called "support" will only be available to households that have a pandemic reduced income lower than the tax threshold(under 211,000yen per month) or for households that have lost 50% or more of their income....

I am not sure how many of people will actually benefit from this... If a household income drops from 300,000 to 200,000, the household would be eligible.

I am not sure if the support is only available to families with children....

savethegaijinToday  08:29 am JST

My daughter and I haven't left my house except to go to the grocery store or the bank (once) in the last 40 days. 

It's really hard not to feel anger towards all of these people who are just going about their lives as if they're invincible. 

Really, really hard.

You should go out more often and take it easy. The virus is not everywhere around. You might end having a depression rather than the virus.

And for the one on this forum who wish a lockdown, you might regret it.

4 weeks of lockdown in my country gives now a lot of stress and people get on the nerves, breaching more and more the rules. I am completely against a lockdown

Burning Bush - A lot of scientists around the world are starting to claim that the test kits are faulty and delivering false positives.

And, if people are staying home, following distancing guidelines and washing their hands there would be no need to test everybody. The whole point of isolation and distancing is to not give the virus a host, which seems to be something beyond the grasp of logic for the Japanese government and most of the population.

Japan has nothing to be worried if there are sufficient preparations.

Japan coronavirus cases pass 5,000 as state of emergency fails to keep people home

How do they expect people without any guarantee for their livelihood.

While most countries quickly anticipated the gravity of the situation and rolled out an across the board cash handout and other breaks Japan can only urge because it removes the government from any responsibility. These irresponsible mofos are still arguing whether to include barber shops, hair salons and beauty parlors on the list of businesses that have to close. When it is no brainer that the should close due to the close contact.

3rd largest economy is on paper only.

It is not the plague... 5000 positives means nothing. You have to see how mane degenerate. I have freinds that did the virus and went over it without any issue.

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

451,968

Cases which had an outcome:

356,283 (79%)

Recovered / Discharged

95,685 (21%)

Deaths

There are many people who have friends that recovers but there are many who have friends that dies from the virus.

To all the people who advocate against a lockdown or think Japan's watered down version is a big success what will happen if you are wrong and Tokyo starts to resemble New York? Do the trains still keep running on normal timetable and people keep going to work, barber shops and Izakayas whilst the hospitals become overloaded and worse? Not saying it will happen but it has to be a definite possibility, which even the government acknowledges as suddenly now they have started making plans for it.

Japan has nothing to be worried if there are sufficient preparations.

Then we have a lot to be worried about

Doug

So don't blame the government for inaction. When the danger of the virus is over

The constitution doesn't stop the government from safeguarding the livelihood of its citizens.

If the government had rolled out a package even if not large that covers everyone and ask everyone to stay home people will understand and will oblige. Very irresponsible and naive to think people will stay home without any guarantees.

Japan has nothing to be worried if there are sufficient preparations.

'IF' there are sufficient preparations?

Ridiculous. And ignorant. If Japan gets hit hard by the virus, hospitals will get overloaded, death will occur, and the entire country, being relatively packed in tightly with people, could be affected much greater than any country in the world because of lack of diligence and true action. That means more virus and death than the USA.

We have to hope the virus somehow doesn't spread as the only real 'hope'. The preparations are not near sufficient, unless there are ICU's and pandemic hospitals, with beds for hundreds and even thousands throughout Japan, of which there are not. Obviously, because ignoring the severity of what might happen is not on the list of 'wait and see' economic approach for a government prioritizing yen over people, preparation is not at the top of list of things to do. Please try to understand this from a logical point of view, and refrain from silly statements.

You should go out more often and take it easy. The virus is not everywhere around. You might end having a depression rather than the virus.

And for the one on this forum who wish a lockdown, you might regret it.

4 weeks of lockdown in my country gives now a lot of stress and people get on the nerves, breaching more and more the rules. I am completely against a lockdown

Well. Luckily in Australia you are allowed to go out to exercise or walk your dog. However, governments have urged people to use common sense when doing it.

People think they don’t need to social distance or wash their hands because they are wearing a mask. Just go to the supermarket and see.

To all the people who advocate against a lockdown or think Japan's watered down version is a big success what will happen if you are wrong and Tokyo starts to resemble New York? 

Well, if I am wrong, am wrong but I do not see Japan becoming like New York. The reason is that people are more naturally doing social distancing, not like Europe or North America. They do not talk to each other’s in shops, trains, etc, do not shake hands or kiss, do not speak so loudly which reduces he risk of transmission.

I was in Canada at the beginning of March, just before local transmission was first reported, People were still seeing the virus has a far away stuff , not changing their habits, no strict control at the airport unless coming from China, etc and told them it was just a question of time. Now the country has stringent restrictions.

We can say what we want but the spread in Japan is slow, and since the first local case in January, more people have been on their guards, Masks are really difficult to find since the end of January

Tokyo is not New York, or we would know already

a deep-rooted Japanese tradition of respect for authority.

This is a believe created by a group of people among Western countries from their irrational and wrong vision of anything coming from Asia.

Japan is a freedom country.

Japan is an authoritarian government which more than often has constrained its population to do what it wants. If Japan wanted to impose a lockdown it would do it. They just don't want to do it because the situation would create an even bigger economical disaster for the country. They are not doing it because Japan Inc is saying them not to do it. Nothing to do with freedom.

When the Fukushima disaster occurred, the government completely locked down the area even for the media in order not to show to the world the gigantic mess they created. I don't remember people like you calling Japan a freedom country.

look up the gene sequencing of he virus, and the origins of it. Most of the testing in America proves that its strain in general, came out of Europe, and in particular Italy.

Another who claims to know science on internet. What are you trying to say? All scientific papers concerning the virus origin have identified its origin in China and was passed to humans from a mammal to be identified. The pangolins seems to be the most probable one. There isn't an American strain of the virus, that's the same strain which affected Asia and Europe.

yoshisan88 -

Australia’s new cases are still dropping daily. They have dropped by 50% in the last week alone. There are many restrictions in place and around 25% of the population have lost their income due to closures of all pubs, restaurants, national parks and beaches. However, due to the success of these restrictions they are only temporary measures that could only last a few months as the new cases continue to decline. Unfortunately, due to Japan’s passive approach of asking and urging the number of new cases are still increasing daily and unless they get tough and smart about it, the worst is still yet to come and could go on for years.

In order for a country to tell its people to stay home in a crisis it must offer its people financial support to do so.

This is not forthcoming from Abe.

Spot on. This and only this, abes incompetence, is the reason this nightmare isn't going to end any time soon. Anything else is an excuse. If a leader can't do their job, move aside and let someone else take charge!!

Michel Reiziger

Not sure why people have been downvoting this person. He speaks complete sense.

Just wait until Koike announces measures today. Monday onwards, we will see greater restrictions... I am guessing

@savethegaijin

I have sympathy for you.

For reasons that I have reiterated I refuse to be housebound-basically I can’t be.

However, I am adult enough to safeguard myself with masks, awareness of distance, hand washing and alcohol use (on hands) to greatly reduce my chance of being infected.

Better to walk around and get some sun whilst being aware eh?

look up the gene sequencing of he virus, and the origins of it. Most of the testing in America proves that its strain in general, came out of Europe, and in particular Italy

@daito_hak

THE WASHINGTON Post, NY Times etc all report this

Actually this would go a long way to explain why death rates and infections are much lower in Asia.

The government has to lockdown parks. May be make police stand there with a megaphone and instruct people and children to leave.

There are way too many kids playing in the park... Many without masks and gloves.

People still queue up in Supermarket lines without maintaining sufficient distance.

Japan has downplayed this for so long, that people refuse to take it seriously. They have to now tune up their safety instructions a couple of notch...

this thing will be here forever. There is no outrunning the virus. So either be vigilant and live your life or cower in fear and hide forever. Corona virus is the most common cause of flu, infects millions of people worldwide and it kills tens of thousands of people , then came the covid which has infected thousands of people worldwide and became deadly for elderly with underlying health conditions, peole with weak immune defenses, obese, bedridden, and some healthy individuals.

So how many people do you know that die from a flu in a few days or how many people do you know that have the flu and put on ventilators? If it’s like most common flues why are people dying in such massive numbers and why people drown 80% of the time when they get on a ventilator? If this is like the common flu, a shot should be enough to fix it, right?

How exactly was the state of emergency expected to have any impact on todays numbers, when it was declared three days ago while the incubation period is known to be between one and two weeks?

See all the masks in the photo? Anyone care to guess where they were made?

THE WASHINGTON Post, NY Times etc all report this 

Actually this would go a long way to explain why death rates and infections are much lower in Asia.

All the scientific literature (including a very recent Italian study) has not identified a different strain than the original Chinese one. None. That's the same one. The media is not the science, the science currently says that no, there isn't another more (deadly) strain of the virus.

Concerning the difference with Asia, first of all, it's pretty clear to the scientific community that China has lied on the numbers of infections and deaths. It's also not clear how South Korea and specially Japan counts the victims of the virus. Japan also is still under testing (a ridiculous 487 tests per million people), so the number of infections in Japan is just up to the air right now.

Now, several hypothesis are being formulated to explain the potential difference between countries (again provided that they are providing reliable data): the general health of the population (level of obesity, cardiovascular decease, etc), a possible higher sensitivity to the virus related to the genetical characteristics of a population, also fewer cases among population which had a tuberculosis vaccine have been observed, etc.

See all the masks in the photo? Anyone care to guess where they were made?

All the more reason why the world needs to shift a lot of their production from China. When this thing hits hard, everyone knows there’s now way the government will be able to handle this and by the way, September is coming and when the virus adapts and mutates then what?

All the people I know with the virus have recovered.Some will die but I will die if I don’t work

@carpslidy

Another remark, following my previous post. The health authorities in France reported a few days ago that 83% of people arriving in intensive care unit due to the virus are overweight.

All the more reason why the world needs to shift a lot of their production from China. 

Your beloved capitalist free market is why everything is produced in China. To achieve your goal would require interference in the capitalist free market, which you constantly shriek is socialism. Love the consistency.

I've said this from the beginning, and I'll say it again. The only way "out" of this so to speak is HERD IMMUNITY

Kids need to be going to school.

https://youtu.be/lGC5sGdz4kg

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/opinion/coronavirus-pandemic-social-distancing.html?auth=link-dismiss-google1tap

If the Japanese government are so deeply worried about this pandemic there’s a lot they can do, if they can’t get these governors in each prefecture to close down the parks, all of the malls, community centers, the cafes, pachinko parlors, that would send a huge message that something is up.

Most Japanese people aren’t political, don’t care about politics generally speaking, they just always put hope that the government will make the right decisions and until the people can visually see a change or laws enforced visually and a mandatory presence, people will just continue to go about their business as usual and everyone thinking I have a mask, so it should suffice to beat this thing. Even India, a third world country shutdown and is taking this virus seriously.

As bad as people are reacting to this, it’s not entirely all their fault, the government and local elected leaders across the country are not taking it serious and just holding out and hoping for the best outcome and take it from there. If they would take it seriously, then you would see closure of businesses all over the country and then people would take notice and then follow up on the orders, but as long as that’s not happening don’t expect the Japanese to change their social living ways.

Fortunately I have my room, my wife and kids have theirs. We practice "social distancing" as a matter of habit in our house, all day long, until supper time that is!

The only one that doesn't get it is our dog! He goes wherever the hell he wants, when he wants!

Oh to be a dog!

Like this news is to be a surprise to anyone who lives in Japan for more than 10 yrs or been here like a lot of us born and raised. When has Japan ever put any sincerity unless it involves the top politicians. Never, so why would this be any different. It's like the big tobacco ban, haha, good one, just bark no bite, reminds of someone, oh that's right Obama, blah blah blah..

@Dan Lavender Today 09:09 am JST

In order for a country to tell its people to stay home in a crisis it must offer its people financial support to do so.

In fact, it needs to offer both financial AND legal support. In failing to make the request an "order", no legal obligations are changed. The default position is that salaryman are under their contractual obligations to work. So unless the boss decides to be nice and agree voluntarily to the request (and since he was not coerced, he will not be compensated), the salaryman has little choice but to show up or risk losing his job.

Orders are not always restricting. If you use them right, they can in fact be empowering.

Derek GrebeToday 08:09 am JST

A friend of mine who works for a school in Den En Chofu told me yesterday that the school will not close down because the emergency warning came from Abe, not from Koike, and therefore Tokyo residents are not obliged to heed it. Kind of a States' Rights kind of issue.

Or rather, a bleed-every-yen-we-can-out-of-these- foreigners-until-too many-of-them-fall-critically-ill-to-keep-the-school-open issue.

Naturally, the owner of the school who is demanding the teachers show up every day is self-isolating at her very comfortable home while the teachers have to trek an hour into work on public transport or go without pay.

I wonder how many more businesses are abusing their staff like this?

Being somewhat closer to the situation than Mr. Grebe, I can assert that he has a personal vendetta against the school and is grossly misrepresenting the truth of the situation in order to grind a particular axe. This is a serious situation in which no-one benefits from spreading malicious untruths.

I've said this from the beginning, and I'll say it again. The only way "out" of this so to speak is HERD IMMUNITY

https://www.sciencealert.com/why-herd-immunity-will-not-save-us-from-the-covid-19-pandemic/amp

Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz is an epidemiologist working in chronic disease in Sydney, Australia. He writes a regular health blog covering science communication, public health, and what that new study you've read about actually means.

*Are you an epidemiologist, Goldeh?

It's time for the govt to declare an emergency before it is too late.Staysafe.

I am hearing lack of legal ground excuses a lot.

Japanese constitution gave a mission to the government in article 12 and article 25, as protector of public welfare and health. By executing and re-commenting practically these two articles, you can successfully establish any state of emergency concept that you want.

These people that presenting lack of legal ground excuses has no idea about the world and how lockdowns in Italy and Germany violated their respective constitutions based on applied perspectives. And regardless of constitution, definitely all European lockdowns right now are violating human rights that secured by HUDOC in EU. However, nobody will be pointing out this in these extreme circumstances that has effecting public health and welfare.

There is only one reason that we didn't establish an efficient lockdown in Japan, it's ECONOMY. The other excuses about japanese constitution has lacking capability etc. are cover-ups and political agenda of LDP to trigger & prepare a base support for their most-wanted constitution change.

You can use this argument in japanese and locally to your grandmother, however if you say in english, it sounds like a joke or you have no idea about the world.

https://verfassungsblog.de/coronavirus-emergency-and-public-law-issues-an-update-on-the-italian-situation/

I have one single question...why the heck are governments only counting infections and not counting recoveries...ok 5000+ infections since this crap began but out of those let's say 3000 already recovered...wouldn't that make things look better and make people in general feel better?

This goes to show the smart and proud people of Japan do not blindly follow the irrational fear sowing and propaganda perpetrated by the corrupt WHO and Global Media. We are finding out more and more that the damage being caused is well within the parameters of the usual flu season. In the 2019/19 flu season in Japan there were 3,400 deaths wheras the total for Covid19 is only 99. The citizens of Japan are no fools. Its time to cancel the stimulus checks for EVERYONE, not only the sex workers, and have everyone BACK TO WORK in an OFFICE and not at home where they most likely goof off and are unproductive.

https://www.sciencealert.com/why-herd-immunity-will-not-save-us-from-the-covid-19-pandemic/amp

With this number, the proportion of people who need to be infected is lower but still high, sitting at around 70 percent of the entire population.Which brings us to why herd immunity could never be considered a preventative measure.If 70 percent of your population is infected with a disease, it is by definition not prevention. How can it be? Most of the people in your country are sick! And the hopeful nonsense that you can reach that 70 percent by just infecting young people is simply absurd. If only young people are immune, you'd have clusters of older people with no immunity at all, making it incredibly risky for anyone over a certain age to leave their house lest they get infected, forever.It's also worth thinking about the repercussions of this disastrous scenario – the best estimates put COVID-19 infection fatality rate at around 0.5-1 percent. If 70 percent of an entire population gets sick, that means that between 0.35-0.7 percent of everyone in a country could die, which is a catastrophic outcome.With something like 10 percent of all infections needing to be hospitalised, you'd also see an enormous number of people very sick, which has huge implications for the country as well.

State of emergency? State of denial would be more accurate.

Burning Bush, here is the info you wanted. The + indicates the increase from the last report. One of the things we have learned about the virus is that the mask do more to prevent giving someone else the virus than protecting oneself. This is probably a major mitigating factor in the slow development.

Japan cases

Updated Apr 9 at 10:54 PM local

Confirmed

4,768

+101

Deaths

94

Recovered

685

+53

If I don't work, I will lose everything.

But am taking precautionary measures and am bracing for lockdown. I don't want to stop but if it is necessary, I will.

I understand that people are angry and concerned about their health.

Perhaps the wealthy folks who post about their comfortable life and financial security here have a solution for those of us struggling?

It is not the plague... 5000 positives means nothing. You have to see how mane degenerate. I have freinds that did the virus and went over it without any issue.

Could you share the details with the rest of us, please.

What was the age and demographic of your friends?

What symptoms did they display, what was the professional diagnosis and how long did it take from symptoms to diagnosis to recovery?

A lot of older people who have to work to survive would appreciate any genuine information. Thanks in advance.

RickyCToday 11:53 am JST

Japanese constitution gave a mission to the government in article 12 and article 25, as protector of public welfare and health. By executing and re-commenting practically these two articles, you can successfully establish any state of emergency concept that you want.

It is also supposed to respect individual freedoms. You can't just pick the convenient lines from the Constitution, read them in a selfish way and say your move is constitutional.

However, nobody will be pointing out this in these extreme circumstances that has effecting public health and welfare.

That actually makes them unprincipled. You know that, right? And it may well come back to bite them down the road.

https://strasbourgobservers.com/2020/04/02/to-derogate-or-not-to-derogate-poll-on-emergency-covid-19-measures/

There is actually an interesting discussion over as Strasbourg Observer over emergency regulations. Whether it is less damaging to human rights (given the realities of greedy leaders who are begging for a pretext to restrict them) to make any "necessary" changes in using the main clauses (thus distorting them permanently) or the emergency clauses (thus giving them legitimacy we may regret in the future). Or of course, just eating a few losses for the long term.

I am hearing lack of legal ground excuses a lot.

Spot on Ricky C! So many people habitually make so many ridiculous excuses for so many failings. Pandemic, Fukushima, Ghosn, export control etc, etc.

If the government did listen to the call for a lockdown, a real lockdown, and implemented it, lets say, a month ago. Would you say that Japan would have been better for it at this point in time?

Oh, gee! A toothless bunch of suggestions failed to keep the "law-abiding" citizens here at home? Who could have predicted that? Certainly not the geniuses that couldn't predict not testing would result in further spread, and not the same geniuses that are pushing for piecemeal policies that will have Japan where the US is before long.

Anyway, I've given up thinking the government will ever be responsible, or accountable, for this. Apparently spokespeople for the PM have been quoted and are going viral online as saying, "Businesses that have opted to close will not be eligible for assistance because it was their choice," which explains one reason why the government is so hesitant to strictly lock things down -- they want to save payout money.

In any case, who are we kidding that Japan could ever enforce anything anyway. The police would say,

Police: "You! What are you doing out! There's a lockdown!"

Young Punk: And?

Police: Well... ummm (scratching head)... you should go home.

Young Punk: No. YOU go home!

Police: Well... shucks... I plan to, but ummm... This is regrettable. Can't you police co-operate?

Young Punk: No. You're bothering me. Go away.

Police: Doushiyou kana? (spotting elderly man on bicycle with groceries) YOU! How DARE you leave your home during this crisis! (calls for eight police to back him up). You, sir! Show me your ID, NOW!

You know what I did last night? The 24-hour convenience store was closed at 11:00 p.m. due to Covid-19, but I really wanted to buy some milk and go for a walk in the open, so I walked a few minutes more to the next one that was open. Do the Japanese politicians really think that merely shutting down Tokyo (well, with pubs, shopping malls, barbers, and basically everything else still running, that is, and no punishment if those requested to close don't) won't send Tokyoites the whopping 10 - 20 minutes it takes the still running trains to get to an area that is NOT closed down, possibly taking the virus there, or getting it and bringing it back home?

Morons.

The Japanese government is taking a page from the Trump playbook: they think they are there just as a "backup".

this past days it’s to many infected already. because the government don’t wanted the businesses to be closed because the japan economy will fall down and to many people are going to work every day. then the government saying we should stay at home. they should closed the business and support the people. we are paying lot of taxes they should support us the people. they saying we need social distancing what F are they saying about. we are all going to work every day what do they saying social distancing.

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, as of April 9 at 20:30, 1,431 of the 1,519 people who have so far tested positive for COVID-19 in Tokyo-to are currently hospitalized. The speculation that somehow the "active cases" numbers are artificially inflated is wrong and dangerous.

https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/

u_s__reamerToday 01:33 pm JST

The Japanese government is taking a page from the Trump playbook: they think they are there just as a "backup".

A more realistic appraisal of the situation would be: the Government understands exactly what it's doing and is positioning to blame the current Constitution for the impending disaster.

Meanwhile, Japanese banks just created a $4.5 billion credit line for Nissan...

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Nissan-seeks-4.6bn-credit-line-to-raise-liquidity-amid-pandemic

..but the Govt can't find any money to compensate workers to stay at home for a month. No wonder MOFA has started using AI to correct "foreign misunderstanding" of the Govt's catastrophic faikure to deal properly with the crisis.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/japans-covid-19-state-of-emergency-locks-down-criticism?source=world&via=rss

@yoshisan88

Thanks for the reply and the article to support your point. I read it. If you do the math, I agree that's too many people to expose without some measures, but that's not what I'm saying and neither are the sources I presented. I suppose I should have been more thorough in my post. I'm not an epidemiologist, so I can only present opinions and figures others have presented. However, I believe what the epidemiologist and doctor are saying in the video and the article. Have you had a chance to watch and read yet?

They argue for utilizing physical distancing at a key moment in the outbreak, just after the peak, and not before . They also argue for strongly protecting at-risk populations while everyone else is building natural immunity by using physical distancing "surgically", not broadly. As mentioned in the article you shared, a vaccine would help under our current measures. I can't argue against that. However, a vaccine won't be available until clinical trials are completed and by the time production is complete to supply the world with one, we're looking at sometime next year. We can't maintain 70-80% physical distancing for that long (i.e., the economy).

Especially given that the current data suggests that this is not that deadly compared to a bad flu-season, and that influenza actually affects children way more than covid-19 has so far. I'm pulling this information from multiple sources, one of which is cited in the article you shared. See below if you're interested:

http://inproportion2.talkigy.com/. - The British project "In Proportion“ tracks mortality „with“ Covid19 in comparison to influenza mortality and all-cause mortality, which in Great Britain is still in the normal range or below and is currently decreasing.

https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/england-and-wales-mortality-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/ - See graph 2 when Covid-19 was introduced.

3.The same trends are happening in Germany, Switzerland and France - different sources found here: https://swprs.org/a-swiss-doctor-on-covid-19/

You know what I did last night? The 24-hour convenience store was closed at 11:00 p.m. due to Covid-19, but I really wanted to buy some milk and go for a walk in the open, so I walked a few minutes more to the next one that was open. Do the Japanese politicians really think that merely shutting down Tokyo (well, with pubs, shopping malls, barbers, and basically everything else still running, that is, and no punishment if those requested to close don't) won't send Tokyoites the whopping 10 - 20 minutes it takes the still running trains to get to an area that is NOT closed down, possibly taking the virus there, or getting it and bringing it back home? 

Morons.

Yeah, come to think of it, Sweden was doing the Japanese soft approach as well And then....

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8192023/Sweden-suffers-biggest-daily-jump-coronavirus-deaths.html

South Korea had only 27 cases reported yesterday, has drive through testing, they are clearly the leader of Asia now, not Japan. My how Japan has fallen, you practically have to be halfway dead to get a COVID-19 test here. Stubborn! Let's go back to school! This in the country with the world's oldest population, you would think after seeing what's going on in Italy, Spain, New York, and even the death of Ken Shimura this would wake them up but apparently it's going to take massive death tolls to finally do that.

Go out to an Izakaya until 800PM is OK!

After that go home. lol

Of course it is not OK.

They should be closed!

No social distance in a Izakaya.

The USA has had over 16,000 deaths due to this thing. Once Japan starts getting a thousand deaths a day, everyone will wish they had taken the social distancing rules seriously.

"...enforcement will rely more on peer pressure and a deep-rooted Japanese tradition of respect for authority."

That was like 100 years ago. It's all tongue-in-cheek now. They do what they want as soon as someone isn't looking or in public if it isn't illegal. Their biggest concern here is work, and companies here don't care about people, as shown by many problems with heirarchy, power harassment, and antiquated business policies. The business leaders of Japan are a bunch of bullying samurai who keep the peasants underfoot, and workers have been trained in their elementary, JHS, and HS days to never go against direct authority, so they go to work without hesitation (if complaining in private). It is a system of abuse. The respect for "authority" in this statement is misplaced.

The number of deaths in Japan is low enough that I propose that there is not enough risk to alter my lifestyle at present

The number of deaths in Japan is low enough that I propose that there is not enough risk to alter my lifestyle at present

Good luck with that. I hope to see you continuing to post because that will mean you aren’t in hospital or dead.

The Japanese government is taking a page from the Trump playbook: they think they are there just as a "backup".

I forgot to mention a backup for whom: Japan Inc. (not the people)

How strong the Izakiya union must be to allowed to be open? Citizens need to sue the government allowing these tiny little pubs crowded with people to stay open.

Being somewhat closer to the situation than Mr. Grebe, I can assert that he has a personal vendetta against the school and is grossly misrepresenting the truth of the situation in order to grind a particular axe. This is a serious situation in which no-one benefits from spreading malicious untruths.

AllSeeingI: Is the school closed? Are the teachers not expected to turn up for work? If that's correct, thank you for correcting the record.

Or is the school still open, and the teachers are expected to turn up for work or not get paid, like Derek said?

What's the untruth? Because if the teachers and students are being put into danger, why are you covering for that?

The only way to keep people stay home is hard lockdown.... If there is liberty then people must use such liberty.. I earlier said that emergency is completely depends on citizen... To save citizen of Japan & world there are only way for implementing lockdown and people must be stay home. Please save your selves...

The state of emergency means nothing if people are allowed to continue to behave as they like. Just look at how that worked for the US and Italy before things really went pear shaped.

Japan is on a crash course for disaster at this rate.

Oh, so much negativity! The numbers remain low (though rising, I know), people are getting better (+/-), Japanese people are listening (not all, but all countries have idiots), the virus has been here perhaps the longest besides China, and there's a biological term called "herd immunity." Which will serve Japan well in the long run. A Good Friday to you! I'm praying for my adopted home and it's leaders.

Japan will get through this as the rest of the world will

RickyC

I am hearing lack of legal ground excuses a lot.

> Japanese constitution gave a mission to the government in article 12 and article 25, as protector of public welfare and health. By executing and re-commenting practically these two articles, you can successfully establish any state of emergency concept that you want.

That's not true. And I can prove it.

Article 12. The freedoms and rights guaranteed to the people by this Constitution shall be maintained by the constant endeavor of the people, who shall refrain from any abuse of these freedoms and rights and shall always be responsible for utilizing them for the public welfare.

Article 25. All people shall have the right to maintain the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured living.

In all spheres of life, the State shall use its endeavors for the promotion and extension of social welfare and security, and of public health.

But you forget to mention Article 11.

Article 11. The people shall not be prevented from enjoying any of the fundamental human rights. These fundamental human rights guaranteed to the people by this Constitution shall be conferred upon the people of this and future generations as eternal and inviolate rights.

Which is precisely what prevents the forced confinement of people in their homes. Forced closure of companies, bars, restaurants or entertainment venues.

In Japan there is no extraordinary emergency item limited in time. That they limit the fundamental rights of individual freedom. Unlike other countries that do have them for extraordinary situations like this virus.

@ Chip Star

I’ll be here-count on it!

On a smaller and lighter domestic note, where is all the Denatured Ethanol spray (for disinfection), and butter (for toast)?

Both have disappeared from all stores in my part of Tokyo. Ethanol shortages I can undertand—maybe prioritizing medical deliveries, but butter? Have cows stopped producing milk or are all dairy farmers in Japan struck down with covid-19?

A buttered morning toast lover needs to know!

Hawaii Warrior,

Herd immunity works when 80% of the population has antibodies to an infection. This can be achieved in two ways: 1. by catching it, or 2. by vaccination. Now, look at the first option; in Japan, with 120 million people, reaching 80% of the population with post-infection antibodies means about 100 million people must get sick and recover. Assuming the world average 4.4% mortality rate (WHO figure for March 3) for this virus, that's 4.4 million deaths in Japan alone. Applying the herd-immunity concept to the US, it's about 9 million dead. Need I go on?

Herd immunity based on natural infection is a non-starter. A vaccine is needed and it is 12 months at least away—and then there's the problem of producing hundreds of millions/billions of doses and getting it into people. Also, if covid-19 shows similar mutation rates to other corona viruses, a new vaccine may be needed every year, just like for winter flu.

This is not a simple problem and lockdowns will be here for a long long time.

Robert Hancock:

Assuming the world average 4.4% mortality rate (WHO figure for March 3) for this virus, that's 4.4 million deaths in Japan alone.

Does your 4.4% refer to the case mortality rate or the infection mortality rate? I dont think we know the latter yet, but it will be lower than the case mortality rate. Check out Iceland... they are the only country that is trying to test the whole population, and so far it seems that half the infected people have no symptoms at all, so never even know they are infected. I still believe that also in Japan many more people are/were infected and that we are closer to herd immunity than any of the experts think.

Tokyo has been eerily quiet in my neck of the woods. No Right Wingers driving around - the silence being broken by just the odd heavy helicopter rattling the house, and the recently rerouted Haneda bound Jets (which fly throughout the night too!).

mmwdkw:

Tokyo has been eerily quiet in my neck of the woods. No Right Wingers driving around - the silence being broken by just the odd heavy helicopter rattling the house, and the recently rerouted Haneda bound Jets (which fly throughout the night too!).

Different flight corridor? They fly over my house too now, but not at night.

Also, the sky seems much clearer. Less traffic?

Just think of billions of dollars the governments are now going to give to businesses and the rich as bailouts, That is the money your kids will have to work for to pay it back.

Now by waiting longer and making sure the virus gets spread like in Italy, France, Spain UK and USA, Canada and in Japan they will save billions of dollars by killing off thousands of us old pensions and benefits receiving people.

We have to be culled.

It is not only direct pensions but medical costs and various senior benefits and privileges and the old folks homes. This sawings will make a part of bailouts going to the business and the rich.

So why would the governments want to act faster against their own interests.

for every person tested positive there are at least other ten that are infected but not tested and unaware of their condition. Because it takes an average 9 days for the first symptoms untested carriers do not know that they are infected. That is why everyone have to wear a mask , to protect others from getting infected which in turn protects everyone, it is much easier to keep one's own germs to themselves then to protect one self from others. In the first case any mask and goggles will do while when protecting oneself real hi quality mask is required and even that is not sufficient. You best defence is defending others.

So why would the governments want to act faster against their own interests.

the longer this goes the deeper the economy sinks. losses and bailouts will run into billions, even trillions of dollars, you think they can get it back by saving on paying a few thousand pensioners?

i'm with you on the mask though, been explaining that to people for as long as i can remember, some of the most active posters here just flat out reject it, the simple explanation simply beyond their understanding.

"The only one that doesn't get it is our dog! He goes wherever the hell he wants, when he wants!

Oh to be a dog!"

And then the dog got infected with Covid.

If a Tiger at NY zoo is not immune what makes you think your dog is?

All gaijin advocating total shut downs, "we(!) should be like Europe", bla bla bla don't have a clue. You're all good for a larf.

All the "urging" is not stopping people in London from exiting their houses; I am just about to go out and won't be stopped by the Old Bill or summarily executed by the Gurkhas.

Gaijin should get back to their own countries if they enjoy "total lock-downs"; and actually believe their own fantasy this is actually happening.

A mate of mine pointed out that if you do venture around our neighbourhood during the day, it's busy with elderly people going about their daily stuff as usual.

If the people that all this locking down is supposed to protect don't care, for how long will everyone else?

The US will start to reopen early next month. Other countries will follow. Some e.g. Denmark) are a little ahead.

By June all the restrictions will be gone.

Wallace Fred

Spot on. This and only this, abes incompetence, is the reason this nightmare isn't going to end any time soon. Anything else is an excuse. If a leader can't do their job, move aside and let someone else take charge!!

Not at all. The reason this is proving difficult is because many COMPANIES require their employees to work from the office, even when they could do so from home.

I am fortunate, my company actually insists that employees stay home, and work from there. Would that more followed suit.