Japan to step up checks on those who left ship after testing negative

With cases in other countries doubling in short periods, the Abe government seems to just be waking up...

On Sunday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed his government to swiftly draw up a basic policy to curb the spread of the new coronavirus in Japan.

By the time they get any plans together it WILL be too late! Probably end up hiring AKB48 to do their public service announcements!

Commonsense will tell them to put them anti viral drugs, the Japanese see how the world will turn on them, they just turn around a jet from Korea in Israel

This is getting beyond the limit of my inagination. I can't believe the sort of stuffs that wafts out of the ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. They need a communication specialist, PR spin doctor, because I'm not sure what's worse, the incompetence, or the excuses.

The only silver lining I can see is if you became sick (Health), lost your job (Labor) and need Welfare to survive, it's only one department to deal with.

the Abe government seems to just be waking up...

Compare this to New Zealand, despite having no reported infection, have had a preparedness plan from day dot, hospitals isolation facilities and testing facikities on standby. What's the size of NZ vs Japan?

It doesn't look as if the children in the playground are very worried, nor their parents.

What a joyful picture to go with this article :-)

"The National Institute of Infectious Diseases suggested that people who had been under control for 14 days, tested negative and were given final approval about their health, can use public transport. And I made the final judgement (to go ahead with the policy)," the minister said

 that he sees no need to quarantine Diamond Princess passengers who tested negative

The minister Mr Kato is making sense.

Work closely with your ministers please PM and get it right with China as spring planting season will start soon.

What baffles me is the fact that the National Institute of Infectious Diseases would allow these passengers to disembark without any further checks or subsequent quarantine. These people are professionals are they not? They communicate with doctors and researchers from around the world, and saw that they all required their returning people to undergo another two weeks of isolation. So why did they give the ok for free release? Was it pressure from the Abe administration just to prove that their way was correct. That to me is the scariest fact of all.

" the Japanese see how the world will turn on them, they just turn around a jet from Korea in Israel"

Japan should learn from more civilised countries how to deal with this issue:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/coronavirus-racism-uk-china-epidemic-birmingham-west-midlands-police-a9343216.html

"I have to take it seriously," said Kato, in commenting on her infection, at a press conference.

"The National Institute of Infectious Diseases suggested that...those negative can use public transport

A lay person would've taken this matter seriously on day one. Common sense would dictate testing be done before leaving a quarantine area. Anyone following the COVID-19 facts would know by now that the virus can be present and spread even when a person is asymptomatic.  Replace Kato already.

Better late than never?

I chatted with a Japanese doctor whose specializes in blood diseases and he thought it was nuts to let all of those people off the boat willy-nilly like that.

It was very stupid to let those people go without a further min 14 days quarantine. But let's get real here, hammering this point, the stupidity and unpreparedness of the j-govt, Abe's incompetence etc etc is useless banter at this point.

The infection numbers are going up all over in scattered parts of Japan and certainly these all have no connection to the cruise ship. In other words, Japan, like many other countries that were visited by tourists from China in January and early February already has plenty of asymptomtic cases walking around and the identifiable ones are only now coming out in droves on a daily basis.

Why is that they are just now doing this? When every other country had mandatory 14 day quarantine procedure, J. Government let them walk off the ship into the mass public transportation. I keep asking why? why do you always go backwards? instead of going forward?

" the Japanese see how the world will turn on them, they just turn around a jet from Korea in Israel"

Japan should learn from more civilised countries how to deal with this issue:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/coronavirus-racism-uk-china-epidemic-birmingham-west-midlands-police-a9343216.html

This is a very terrible event in the UK. That guy that attacked the lady is very lucky he was not in the USA. It is very likely/possible he would have been shot and held to the ground until the police arrived.

Compare this to New Zealand, despite having no reported infection,

Because China was boycotting New Zealand at the time. So they did not have Chinese tourists. In other words, they were lucky. It had nothing to do with the government.

Too late!

"The National Institute of Infectious Diseases suggested that people who had been under control for 14 days, tested negative and were given final approval about their health, can use public transport. And I made the final judgement (to go ahead with the policy)," the minister said at the time.

Exactly, the odds are very remote, that someone test positive after testing negative. In testing, there are always cases of false positive and false negatives. Look at the numbers. 1000 people have been left off the ship with the exception of the one case. No one else reported testing positive. That is .001. Exactly in line with the research.

How does this whole story make sense?

i am pretty sure a child could find the huge flaws in the logic that Japan government have come up with.

They are either seriously clueless or reckless... I think a bit of both.

Lets just hope the warmer weather starts to kill this thing off...

people who had been under control for 14 days, tested negative and were given final approval about their health,

Except that they have not been ’under control’, they’ve been in an incubator with hundreds of infected people.

Making calls everyday ?

What a loss of manpower and money !

It won't change the fact that each infected "escaped" person will have transmitted disease to others...

Yah. Step things up now.

(rolls eyes)

Step up..urge..mull

...sigh

Compare this to New Zealand, despite having no reported infection,

Because China was boycotting New Zealand at the time. So they did not have Chinese tourists. In other words, they were lucky. It had nothing to do with the government.

New Zealand “extends” ban on Chinese tourists.

"On Sunday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed his government to swiftly draw up a basic policy to curb the spread of the new coronavirus in Japan."

'Swiftly', eh? Is that what a month after the fact is? I guess it shouldn't be any surprise to people besides the blind defenders that CNN and other world media are saying that the Japanese response to the Diamond Princess was like watching "a train wreck in slow motion". No doubt before they draw up the policy they need to hire people who lead in the field of amakudari and the elite or retired policians to form panels to discuss thinking about making decisions, first. Then, when it's spread to all corners of the nation and is almost caught up to China or surpasses them in terms of numbers of infected, they can say it was not their fault and they did nothing wrong; that the spread "could not have been anticipated" and "It's all Britain's fault, and the US, for the quarantine and spread!"

The original quarantine plan was 14 days.

They followed that plan, regardless of new information.

The health minister said during a parliamentary session last Wednesday that he sees no need to quarantine Diamond Princess passengers who tested negative, once they disembark from the ship.

Disgraceful. Not fit for office.

All retunees to the UK from China and this cruise ship have been quarantined, some have tested positive despite testing negative when leaving the ship.

I saw on the TV news this morning that South Korea has already tested over 20,000 people while Japan has only tested 1500 of the general public (not on the cruise ship). Now I begin to understand how the number of confirmed cases in Japan is so low, despite the clear spread around the country. Why the hell are we not in lock down? Non-essential travel cancelled. Events cancelled.