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© KYODOCOVID quasi-emergency to completely end on Monday: Kishida
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72 Comments
factchecker
Lift all quarantine requirements on residents.
Gobshite
Not sure what the stupid term "quasi-emergency" is supposed to mean. Is this the magic that makes my local junk food restaurant close at 8pm, because we all know the virus sleeps until that time. The same virus which magically doesn't affect the conbini opposite, which has been open 24/7 since the pandemic started.
It's either an emergency or it isn't. Quasi.....shmasi...
Numan
This is simple because Cherry Blossom season is coming!
Didn't you guys know? Japan is special because it has 4 seasons!
Everything must begin in the Spring in Japan.
He needs some popularity points. The poll numbers are decreasing!
Abe creeping around ready to poke his head out when someone says "New PM?"
Abbey
I care if people are not wearing masks !!!
Some idiots aren't !
kurisupisu
They’ll be rehashing the Go To Travel soon!
The virus has never been a Japanese one coz it came from Gaikoku, travel and trains in Japan are safe doncha know…
Fiddlers
Good news and about time !
Sh1mon M4sada
Eventuality...better sooner rather than later. Mask??? No big deal. I care more about US's (and Japan's) backflip on WHO funding than mask.
What's happened to accountability? WHO was politically motivated, by China, WHO continued to be used as a hand of the CCP in excluding Taiwan, abject failure in allowing politics to affect the rollout of the AZ vaccine, gone AWOL in developing countries (because they can't be trusted).
IMHO, WHO is a bigger threat to mankind than covid itself.
jeffb
it is difficult to decree when masks would no longer be necessary as they were deemed fundamental in the fight against the pandemic
kurisupisu
Roll on (slowly) Japan…you’ll get there someday…
Monty
Is your home country OK with 300 deaths per day?
Ask them!
Jim
Decision made on Wednesday to end it on Monday next week??? They could have ended it from today!
master
...without offering a single study that shows this to be true and ignoring the mountains of evidence that they are worse than useless.
Facemasks are the modern day equivalent of wearing a garlic necklace. the Japanese govt will continue the masquerade without a single thought for the young children who are suffering the developmental problems that go with them.
Monty
My home country has around 200.000 new cases every day, and they will stop all restrictions from this saturday.
The government argued that it is not anymore the responsible of the government, but the responsible of the population to behave in a correct matter to prevent the spread of the virus.
The government leave it now to the population to be self - responsible by volunteer wearing masks, get vaccinated and keep social system and so on...
The government said, it makes no sense to put restrictions and rules on the population after 2 years.
After 2 years everyone should understand how to behave responsible and what are the measures each person can do by himself to prevent the spread of the virus.
And I agree with that!
Monty
I don't feel safe going outside
Then stay home!
Nobody is forcing you to go outside.
Cherry blossom season and people are pushing to go get drunk in parks and shout and cavort as they eat, spit, cough, and all together in large group, maskless
Then stay away from parks!
Nobody is forcing you to go to parks.
Sh1mon M4sada
@vrex
Why are you asking me? This should be put to the WHO.
As a part of humanity, I simply expect the peak global body on health to have as a minimum 'moral' and act ethically in its dealings. The WHO has been pure political, and on the wrong side of political at that. Excluding Taiwan, a nation with a good track record of dealing with outbreaks (some from China), and for what?
Why does the WHO advocate for sinovac when it's proven to be one of the least effective, whilst earlier whiteanting Astra Zenecca, a free, no royalty AND very effective vaccines?
So many questions...but so little coming out of the WHO.
What about all the villas in Switzerland, private school fees, ski lodge memberships, the exorbitant salaries, the junkets. Why be based out of the most expensive city on earth where there hasn't been a single outbreak in the last hundred years, shouldn't the HQ be based out of Asia where so many outbreaks has originated from? Utterly rotten to the core, yet appears to have a global base of fanbois cheering it on, making excuses for it. Sigh...
John-San
Those foolish remarks condoning mask wearing by stating “It’s been proven ineffective” ignore the fact that mask prevent hand to mouth contamination. So your consist negotiable comments condoning mask wearing because it doesn’t prevent infection is irrelevant as the mask has proven to prevent contamination from hand to mouth which is proven the most probable way of getting infected by all virus.
shogun36
So what will ACTUALLY change come Tuesday?
Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne
The word emergency must have a different meaning in Japan.
The BA2 is more contagious yet so mild or no symptoms at all.
Mordan
Funny to say the least. Following in UKs footsteps, after lifting all measures they see an "unexplainable" rise in cases... At the same time doctors and hospitals in Japan keep saying that the hospitals are at their limits. Oh boy....
spektral
hooray!
vendingmachinemusic
I wear a mask as I don’t want to get sick or make others sick. There never has been a mask mandate in Japan.
same reason I wear a jimmy hat.
Kaowaiinekochanknaw
Not when I'm wearing my rubber gloves all day.
Derek Grebe
Gee, I wonder if there's an election on the way in the next few weeks?
I'm sure that doesn't have anything to do with this decision.
kurisupisu
An easy question here!
Answer:Tell the truth.Call out pandemics sooner.Stop sucking up to China in exchange for vast amounts of cash.
There’s more but I’m off to the pub for lunch today so…
Christopher Glen
"next step-take face masks off."
Agreed, and burn them
Christopher Glen
"Wait, you don't think all people think uniformly with no variety do you? Are you trying to claim that ALL people are wearing them out of fear rather than any actual use?"
Did you read the article? I'm lucky it's still up. There are plenty of studies countering the narrative, but unfortunately are suppressed by Google and the fact-checkers of social media.
"Really? I haven't ever seen any credible scientists saying that. I suspect you got duped by some shifty sources" Ah, the ones "fact-checked". The same fact-checkers with pharma-sponsorship.
Nope.
kurisupisu
Hasn’t almost everyone in Japan been infected yet?
Acquired immunity having an effect, right?
Still, having had the virus means zilch to the Japanese government- as you still need the boo…ster!
Kerching!
Sanjinosebleed
Abbey
Today 08:07 am JST
I care if people are not wearing masks !!!
Some idiots aren't !
Why??? If you are wearing a mask aren't you safe??!!
Stop forcing your fears on others!
El Rata
No thanks, I will continue to refuse to go along with the masking circus.
Sh1mon M4sada
This is the kind of statement opaque, authoritarian dictators say. But heck, I'll nibble.
Sinovac
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/28/indonesian-covid-deaths-add-to-questions-over-sinovac-vaccine
Should the WHO have approved it earlier in the month given unreliable data?
AZ
https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/astrazeneca-s-covid-shot-should-list-blood-clots-as-rare-side-effect-ema-says
Why is the WHO playing the cautious card here when it should be advocating, or at least roll out the same line, ie the best vaccine is the available vaccine, given the reliable data on AZ.
meh, ad hominem...the WHO is on the record, over and over, playing politics, so much so countries had no choice but to act at independently at national level rather than a global coordination, and you say I have a terribly bad idea....yeah, tell that to the leaders of the world that is not CCP affiliated.
LOL, I'm talking about WHO HQ. Hitachi have office all over the world too, doesn't mean it's not a Japanese domiciled corporation. Your red herring just paints you as a WHO apologists.
Blacklabel
anyone taking bets that the quasi-semi-kinda-restrictions are back in place for Golden Week?
Christopher Glen
Cuts right to the point re "masks". Sort of confirms what I knew from the beginning.
"“In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic.”
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmp2006372?fbclid=IwAR2rkz1dIWpQbPvS_snullB_J-Hd72dpRcZe7PYtc69hXUBz4Dy1SDx0lS0
Christopher Glen
"Kishida asked for people to continue to wear face masks, adding it is difficult to decree when masks would no longer be necessary as they were deemed fundamental in the fight against the pandemic."
In most states in Australia, and largely in the UK, they have now been ditched. Time for Japan to get with the times.
Christopher Glen
"Are you trying to imply that this invalidates the wearing of masks as a good idea?"
It indicates that people are wearing them out of fear, rather than any actual use.
Then there's the obvious rebreathing of ones own CO2 throughout the day, oxygen reduction to the brain, etc. Many countries have now rightly - ditched them. I myself wear one as little as possible now
Christopher Glen
"No, of course not, why would I waste time reading something". I rest my case.
Strangerland
We have a very poster in this thread claiming there is only one reason, and one reason only, why people wear masks, and that's fear:
It's a mind-mindbogglingly stupid conclusion.
Kaowaiinekochanknaw
Regarding masks, I often queation whether the mahority of people that continue to wear them are either juat science deniers or just conforming as too afraid of what others will think of them due to social peer pressure?
Interesting psychology.
Nihon Tora
I don't really see these restrictions having a significant effect anyway in the grand scheme of things - asking restaurants to close a few hours early when everywhere else everyone is crowding into trains, shopping malls, offices and so on. They'll lift these restrictions and the cases might rise a bit or they might continue falling, either way, probably little to do with change in restrictions. Japan should just follow the lead of plenty of other countries and open everything back up again including the borders.
Eastman
next step-take face masks off.
than very next-return to normal life as all we knew from past.
step by step.
Zaphod
Not a day too soon. Why did they have to keep up this nonsense for so long.
Strangerland
Well, it indicates some people are doing that.
Wait, you don't think all people think uniformly with no variety do you? Are you trying to claim that ALL people are wearing them out of fear rather than any actual use?
Strangerland
Really? I haven't ever seen any credible scientists saying that. I suspect you got duped by some shifty sources... are you sure you know what you're talking about? I mean, you seem to think you do, but you're making some pretty questionable statements that don't seem to be in line with science.
Strangerland
No, of course not, why would I waste time reading something when you can't even summarize your point and how the article supports it? That would be a silly waste of my time. If there isn't enough in there for you to be able to support your own argument, why would I bother wasting time reading it silly?
Oh, and I wonder if I was supposed to not point out the glaringly obvious point that you avoided answering these questions:
One can only assume it's because the answers to those questions pretty much ruin your argument.
As I thought!
Alex
People are still arguing about the effectiveness of masks? still ? year three of a pandemic? considering the countless articles, peer reviewed docs ect showing that they are???
virusrex
Not even one of your links says that asymptomatic infection is guaranteed to provide long lasting immunity against COVID.
Do you understand the huge difference between saying "natural infection can provide immunity" and "natural infection guarantees immunity irrelelvant from the production of disease"? You bring absolutely no evidence to contradict the point, which means you did not understood it at all. It is extremely easy to find cases of reinfection, specially with Omicron (even between subvariants of it) that alone is enough evidence to prove infection is not a guarantee of being immunized as you mistakenly try to prove.
And what are my qualifications then? guessing what other people are is not only against the rules, but make it obvious you have no argument and have to end up assuming things you have absolutely no evidence about (same as with your main point). You can of course prove me wrong when you provide evidence of the qualifications you would like me not to have, but until then you are just baselessly claiming something you have no idea about.
Antiquesaving
Not endorsed?
Really tell that to my local mom and pop place, they got hit with several fines and now just closed, they saw no point in opening if they have to close at their busiest period or face fines.
theResident
@Eastman: No one forcing you to wear a mask are they? There is no mandate in Japan last time I checked. Sure, airlines and shops have their own rules but that's the same as any rule they may wish to impose.
Monty
keep social system and so on...
Sorry, not social system....social distance.
kurisupisu
No, at least not according to any realistic analysis, even counting 10 times the number of detected cases this is not on the level of the number of people immune by vaccination.
Whose “realistic analysis” ?
Not the J government, it has never had mass testing.
In fact, it even sought to prevent testing via the healthcare system ( got the yen , have a test ok!) and we all know of the ‘asymptomatic cases’ by now.
Infection is not necessarily immunizing, people that got infected and felt down for a day have not the same immune reaction than those that had to spend a month in the ICU. Making a full characterization of the immune response to be able to say the person is at least as immune as someone vaccinated would be much more expensive (and profitable for the companies that sell the necessary equipment and reagents) than the vaccine.
All the data suggests that a combination of vaccine and infection provides the best protection.
Of course, the companies will pressure here and there so that under 18s, toddlers and yer cat and dog + hamster will have all the shots + the 10 boosters lined up and waiting @ -100 degrees!
virusrex
No, this is the kind of statement someone that actually wants to see the evidence for some outrageous claim would say. And with reason.
From your first reference
*Indonesia, which has relied on the Chinese-made vaccine for its health workers*
*The vaccine was approved for emergency use this month by the World Health Organization*
This is completely different from what you said it happened, not only Indonesia had no other option, what the WHO did was simply approve it, which is what should be done for a vaccine that is safe and effective enough to be preferable to not vaccinating. This is not how you mischaracterized the situation.
Sinovac has never been suspected of being a worse option than not vaccinating, just worse than other vaccines, but if those other vaccines are not available then that is an irrelevant point. Indonesia had less deaths thanks to the vaccine.
From your second link
*The agency stressed that the benefits of the shot *still outweigh the risks.
*It also pointed out that the World Health Organization has ruled a link between the vaccine and blood clots plausible, but not confirmed.*
This again is completely different from what you said the WHO was doing. It supported the use of both vaccines, If Europ had acces to better vaccines than AZ then that still means less risk for the people being vaccinated, and if Indonesia had no access to any other vaccine then still Sinovac meant less people dying,
No, that is not what an ad hominem is, you should also research it. Your argument completely depends on you thinking everybody should be in the field taking samples ( because else a simple telephone not to count internet conection would make it irrelevant for them to be there) which is obviously nonsensical.
No other choice? they could always could have choosen to do a global effort, the problem is that the countries that did not want to cooperate (Europe, Japan, the US, etc.) were the ones that would have supported poorer countries, their negative to cooperate is what made impossible to help the countries that struggled without vaccines, and the WHO had nothing they could do to force the cooperation of the rich world. As easy to prove as you yourself came up with exactly Zero ways for this to be done.
And that is still irrelevant, decisions are made (on the behalf of the WHO) at the local, national and regional level also, if you think every single detail have to pass thru the central office in order to anything to be done that is a false idea. And if you think this process would be faster or easier in a populous city of any poor country that is even worse.
virusrex
First the WHO is not sucking up to China, it is simply made fangless by exactly the same goverments that criticize it now, and that means it can't oppose ANY country in the world, not just the one that you don't like. And there is nothing false about the declarations of the WHO, that always is people not understanding something and later pretending it means something completely different.
So if the WHO says "China gave us no information that supports human to human transmission" (which is not a lie) they pretend it says "We confirmed there is no human to human transmission" (which would be a lie, but also is something nobody said).
At the end it is always people badly understanding what can be said according to the evidence.
Strangerland
Are you trying to imply that this invalidates the wearing of masks as a good idea?
virusrex
Because you are the one saying they should have done things differently, that means you know they could have done something else, something that is not actually possible. So again, the WHO has no power to oppose ANY government, what is what you supposed they could have done differently? your criticism is as valid as saying everything was on the fault of a random citizen. The same reason applies for not recognizing Taiwan, if whole countries with armies and economical powers are not recognizing Taiwan as an independent country (like the US or Japan) what do you supposed the WHO should have done? say it is and end up all cooperation with China? is that productive?
Bring the references for both things, it is not the same to say that if a country have no access to any other vaccine then even a less effective one is an advantage than saying this vaccine should be preferred over others more effective even if available.
You have a terribly bad idea of what the WHO is supposed to do. What if it was based in a populous city of India? how does this improve the role it has? do you believe the system would be more effectivy by having the people making the decisions collecting samples themselves instead of relying on the actual professionals that do that much better? Also the WHO have offices all over the world, and collaboration centers, and research institutes, etc. etc. That collect sort and give the local, national and regional information to the people that make the decisions (and no, not all decisions are made centrally either). Why do you think the differen countries health authorities are not actively criticizing the WHO as you do? do you know more about public health than them?
TARA TAN KITAOKA
Humans are most important not capitalism.
smithinjapan
Larr Flint: "What!?!?! We still have like 10k a day and he wants to lift all the restrictions?"
Yup. Cherry blossom season and people are pushing to go get drunk in parks and shout and cavort as they eat, spit, cough, and all together in large group, maskless when doing those things. If you think it's in the 10s of thousands now (more likely 100s, but who's testing? I mean counting?), wait until April.
Kishida is just looking for some quick points.
virusrex
Completely false, the opposite is true.
Or as usual, can you get ANY institution of medicine or science that say masks are worse than useless?
not even one? that is because your personal belief has been completely debunked by scientific data that proves above any reasonable doubt the masks are a useful tool to decrease transmission.
virusrex
No, at least not according to any realistic analysis, even counting 10 times the number of detected cases this is not on the level of the number of people immune by vaccination.
Infection is not necessarily immunizing, people that got infected and felt down for a day have not the same immune reaction than those that had to spend a month in the ICU. Making a full characterization of the immune response to be able to say the person is at least as immune as someone vaccinated would be much more expensive (and profitable for the companies that sell the necessary equipment and reagents) than the vaccine.
virusrex
Anyone that has done and published them, with parameters better defined than "what I think is happening" as you do. Not having mass testing does not make it valid just to imagine something and assume it is true.
Which completely contradicts your previous comment saying that infected people do not need a booster, according to this everybody benefits from it, previously infected or not.
Forget whatever any company you don't like says, the experts around the world are the ones that say (based on data) that all the populations that are subjected to a vaccine recommendation benefit from it and it reduces their risk of serious disease or even death.
Again, if the purpose were to profit it would be much better to avoid vaccinating people and charge them several times more to see their immunity, as you recommended.
"should" is a very poor argument to prove people would do something, after all it is very easy to demonstrate how negative is to drive under the influence, but people still do it every year even with very strong penalties from the goverment. Everybody agrees people should do whatever is demonstrated to be the best course of action, but there is always people that willingly choose the irrational option based on their "personal opinion" and that will put others at an extra risk without real justification.
The WHO was made powerless to oppose ANY country since more than 10 years ago, now the best it can do is to ask for cooperation without any real power to make any country do it. What wold you have made the WHO do?
Mickelicious
So non-hay fever sufferers should remain masked?
Worrying to see this conflation gain traction already.
theResident
@factchecker : Quarantine has been lifted from the vast majority of countries. I keep having to remind you of this. The list of 'designated' countries shrinks constantly.
daito_hak
There is a large amount of scientific literature on natural immunity, for example and it’s not even exhaustive:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...
https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.11...
https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.11...
https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journa...
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/f...
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/...
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.11...
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.11...
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.11...
https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journa...
https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journa...
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4158...
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/art...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4158...
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.11...
https://www.journalofinfection.com/ar...
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35149106/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-021-01114-w
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7104e1.htm?s_cid=mm7104e1_w
Yet there is a random dude with no qualification whatsoever on internet trying to lecture people with literally random chosen words put randomly together about a subject that goes way above his head. This is fascinating, our world is fascinating.