Sports teams see virus clusters as cases in Tokyo, Osaka remain high

Instead of playing sports, staying home watching netflixs would be far better for their physical and mental heath.

Been complaining about this for weeks. Most people thought me a panic nut. Sure wish I were wrong. Oh and BTW I haven't seen much sporting activity along my jogging route. Hummmmm, wonder why?

Been complaining about this for weeks. Most people thought me a panic nut. Sure wish I were wrong. Oh and BTW I haven't seen much sporting activity along my jogging route. Hummmmm, wonder why?

You were not wrong, just too many people think that the virus is no big deal, until they catch it!

Exercise and sun is essential for a healthy immune system. The best thing you can do is play sports.

Also watching sports is a great way to relieve stress. They need to open up the stadiums before more folks start losing it.

I have 3 kids and they do soccer. As parents we should all thank coaches for continuing to keep our kids healthy and exercising. The media will push to shut everything down again. Well i say how about the media shuts down first.

Kids after school programs are essential!! Most parents agree. Don't buy into this fear mongering. The coronavirus does not kill children and has an extremely low death rate even for adults. Keep the economy running. It's absolutely necessary for families to feed their kids and for their development!

The only way to beat the media and the bullies is word of mouth and local support!

Kids after school programs are essential!! Most parents agree. Don't buy into this fear mongering. The coronavirus does not kill children and has an extremely low death rate even for adults.

Where to start?

Kids after school programs are essential!!

After-school programs are a "want", not a "need". After-school programs are not essential; desirable perhaps, but not essential.

Most parents agree.

This is a logical fallacy. Not so very long ago most people agreed that the world was flat... Because people believe something is so, does not make it so.

The coronavirus does not kill children

As of July 30, 86 child deaths in the US have been attributed to Covid-19.

an extremely low death rate even for adults.

160,000+ deaths attributed to Covid-19 in the US; 50 deaths per 100K population

For comparison, there were 34,000 deaths attributed to influenza in the US in the 2018-2019 influenza season

https://downloads.aap.org/AAP/PDF/AAP%20and%20CHA%20-%20Children%20and%20COVID-19%20State%20Data%20Report%207.30.20%20FINAL.pdf

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2018-2019.html

@bruce chatwin

This is Japan. J . A. P. A. N

Japan zero child deaths.

Japan 1000 deaths over months

90% over 80 years old.

The team has played matches outside the prefecture since late July, fueling concern about a wider spread of the virus.

This strikes me as selfish and irresponsible, thousands of schools across Japan have been cancelling thousands of gatherings and events, some of which form a central part of school life in Japan. At the same time though, late July is when Go To campaign started, with the government actively encouraging people to travel to other prefectures as this soccer team did. There is hopeless government mixed messaging on this.

The net result of what the soccer team has done will be more (self-imposed) cancellations of gatherings and events for many more other kids. For that reason, I can't support what they did. You can play football and having to travel all over the place.

The good news is that there is a downward trend in Tokyo as of August 10th, and wider Japan is close to seeing a downward trend, with an r0 of 1.05 based on the last 7 days. Of course, PCR testing is also way down following August 5th, most likely as a result of the Obon holidays.

With regard to deaths, unfortunately its not good news. July's total deaths were 37 for all Japan, whereas August has already seen 41 deaths as of August 10th. This is the first monthly increase in deaths since the SoE. The week between Monday, August 3rd and Sunday, August 9th, is also the deadliest week for corona since the last week of May (25th - 31st).

https://toyokeizai.net/sp/visual/tko/covid19/en.html

Ultimately, it comes back to leadership. The central government has decided that it will continue with its current strategy of encouraging economic activity (or, at least, not actively discouraging risk behavior). This position translates down to how individuals conduct themselves, from schools and sports teams, to commuters, and so on. It appears to be counter-intuitive according to the data. We can take personal measures, of course, however there is enough evidence now from multiple countries that central leadership is prerequisite to the pandemic response. The situation has not escalated to the point prior to the previous SoE, and so without strong messaging and strategy to direct people, we can only continue as we are until such a time as the numbers do require strong executive action, or don't, in which case I suppose we continue in this half limbo where cases kind of float around, and economic activity remains suppressed. Worst of both worlds.

No the virus may not kill kids but it does create enough panic to shut my and my wife's business down. Sickness is not the only result of this virus. Lives of healthy people are also being destroyed.

and wider Japan is close to seeing a downward trend, with an r0 of 1.05 based on the last 7 days. Of course, PCR testing is also way down following August 5th, most likely as a result of the Obon holidays.

No thanks for another person kicking Okinawa out of Japan!

Your information here is wrong, as per 100,000 Okinawa is experiencing nearly 3 times more infections than number two, Tokyo! It has INCREASED by over 13 per 100,000 over the past week, and is now at roughly 43 people per 100,000, where Tokyo is at about 16 per 100,000.

Japan is NOT just Tokyo!

@Yubaru

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, but the r0 of 1.05 is based on Japan as a whole. Individual prefectures have localized variance; the r0 in Okinawa as of August 10th is 1.53.

I live in Aichi, which has also seen it's infections skyrocket recently, so I understand. However, if you read my entire post, you will see I am advocating against the current strategy. If you choose to make enemies of those trying to ally with you, you will have a much harder time advocating for Okinawa.

This was obviously going to happen when they restarted sports clubs, especially as many sports clubs aren't requiring masks. ...Not to mention school kids seem to not care at all and seem to usually not wear masks, be really close to each other, and talking loudly into each other's faces. :/ (Of course I was like this as a teenager too, but... Now isn't really the time.)

Bruce

I guess you don't have kids or are in the loop with other parents in Japan. Please don't let your fear determine what parents think is good for their children. I want my kids to learn and develop.

There are no deaths in Japan. The numbers you cites of children who died all had co-morbilities. And the high numbers of deaths in America is due to many reasons I won't get into because it's IRRELEVANT to the news article.

As usual, people's comments are so polarised. Enjoy some normalities but at same time take precautional measures. Government should test, trace and contain any clusters identified. Be alerted but do not panic.

But the message was/is Go to Travel!’

Not só smart...

For comparison, there were 34,000 deaths attributed to influenza in the US in the 2018-2019 influenza season

Seasonal influenza kills between 500000-600000 worldwide annually. About the same as SARS-CoV-19 in just 8 months. It is serious.

But, mostly only old people or poor health patients are at risk. It has almost no mortal effect on children.

I'm starting to wonder if the higher mortality rate is due to failing govt responses, lockdowns and ineffective mask mandates?

 We can take personal measures, of course, however there is enough evidence now from multiple countries that central leadership is prerequisite to the pandemic response.

I'm having a similar impression. Individual efforts and behavior controls are in a way limited as a few "wild" and irresponsible ones have ruined them. Unpreparedness and mishap can also unpredictably produce a mini-spike (I don't necessarily blame "errors" but get disappointed whatsoever...)

Meanwhile, I think that new legislation or even constitutional amendments are necessary for effective/responsive leadership under crisis. In Japan, political powers are ruled by law (red-tape?) and decentralized among local prefecture-based organisations especially with regard to the disease control.

Gibson

40 deaths is not much for one month. And a majority of those deaths are over 80. Im willing to bet there was more deaths from heart disease in August than corona.

On Tuesday, 699 new infections were reported across Japan a day after the cumulative total topped 50,000, increasing by 10,000 in just one week

Goes to show the Japanese are susceptible to this virus like any other country and not spared like the narrative was. With test increasing to about 3 times that during the first wave, the number of positive cases has increased dramatically.

Schools are set to open back up in less than two weeks in Japan. I'm going to assume many of these asymptomatic soccer players and other bukatsu athletes with Covid-19 will infect their classmates and teachers. Japan was lucky in that there were no major school outbreaks before the summer vacay. I've got a hunch that there will be some school shutdowns in September and October. The good news is that Putin just announced Russian scientists have developed a vaccine for Covid. The question is, can it be trusted?

The best thing you can do is play sports.

Organized group sports like baseball and soccer must be avoided. Individual outdoor sports like jogging, tennis, and cycling should be encouraged.

The issue is not sick these high school students get or don't get, it is that they can transmit the virus to their parents and grandparents and other older adults who may be more vulnerable. The government needs to do a good job of testing and contact tracing.