Japan confirms 8 more cases of Omicron variant infection

GoodDec. 10  04:50 pm JST

Omicron has tripled!

Doesn't really surprize me. Japan probably got it from a jet or a boat. Can't stop it but you can take measures to fight it, like getting vaxxed.

Louisferdinandc

Given the proportion between the two populations, in terms of death Japan could have also expected an additional share of 142% of Korea’s covid deaths (2,257), meaning 5,461, but had instead 15,768 officially recorded deaths, almost three times more than predictable. 

It seems you are looking at accumulative figures. They maybe whatever they are, but currently there are lots of people hospitalized in Korea, while in Japan the number is close to zero. So clearly the situation is different.

@bo- and here I thought the medical industry and politicians have been 100% transparent. So are you suggesting that perhaps vaccines have not delivered promised herd immunity? And vaccines and eternal boosters may not be the only way to keep 5-year olds safe from COVID?

@Andy- ZERO deaths from omicron, but don't worry, they'll figure out a way to keep the fear alive.

OMG, 8 people have a cold. Quick, close down the borders and business.

A mate here had covid but was not told which variation it was. Makes me think they can make up whatever variant they like to suit their agenda - project fear

Glad that Japan is monitoring the in-coming people well because you’ve really reduced your cases from the last time thousands were allowed to enter. I think as an island your contamination will only happen from outsiders who come in.

Best to quarantine everyone at least 5 days in case the symptoms is latent.

Omicron and it’s group of COVID-19 gang of variants is an invisible enemy and doubting Thomases should have more faith in the vaccines. We lose more if we continue doubting. Maybe it is mild because it tries to penetrate the vaccinated? How did the unvaccinated do when they caught the Omicron?

Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla yesterday stated that we (he means, his company's bottom line) will need a fourth dose amid concerns about the Omicron variant.

And right there is one source of the drive to keep the fear alive.

Listen people, you're just lining their pockets with an unproven vax.

We all need to stop pretending that this is the Black Death and get on with our lives.

They'll continue to tout variants in order to instill fear in the populace.

Enough is enough.

For those who are confuse. These are the ones who entered japan but has to enter government quarantine facilities to be monitored for 14 days. These were between late nov. and early this month.

I suspect they already recorded some cases during their monitoring but only decided to announce all 8 today. Or it would be pretty ironic if some of them got infected when they are quarantine with someone who has it there at the government facility. Otherwise it would not make sense for all 8 to be announce on the same day when they enter Japan in different dates. Unless the testing result was so slow that only today they finally gotten everyone results back.

Heard the new variant is not as powerful, that's good news, time to open up, millions got vaccinated, fewer people are dying, enough of the panic and let life go on, the chances of someone getting the virus and dying is growing slimmer by the day. Stop the fear.

Come on it’s a weaker strain. Japan don’t panic. Open up and let us vaccinated in without quarantine like we are doing for you here in Australia

@zichi

Tests can be faulty.

Vaccinated can still carry virus. Close the borders, follow China's example.

Please close the borders ASAP.

Japan's timid bunny leaders with big budget deficits will soon be begging for the fourth shot from Pfizer. After all, Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla yesterday stated that we (he means, his company's bottom line) will need a fourth dose amid concerns about the Omicron variant. (Source is The Hill.com in case the link gets stripped out.)

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/585065-pfizer-ceo-says-fourth-vaccine-shot-may-eventually-be-needed

cleoToday  05:07 pm JST

Fully vaccinated or not?

All eight entered Japan from abroad so presumably fully vaccinated since you have to be to be let in the country.

Actually that is only true if the person is not a Japanese citizen.

The Japanese government cannot stop citizens from returning vaccinated or not.

The possibility that the airline or country they are leaving from or transiting through may require vaccination may change that, but as it stands if they are Japanese citizens they can enter Japan unvaccinated.

I wonder how many were detected at the airports that weren't omicron in the same time frame

not reporting deaths as COVID-related if that wasn’t their main morbidity.

Can you give the figure for these deaths that weren't reported as due to covid?

Or where did you base that assertion?

Am just curious

Yep it’s not comparable, it’s three times more in proportion to the population.

Shouldn't the number of deaths then be a lot more per capita than than most other countries that test multiple times?

Omicron has now completely replaced Delta in South Africa, and so far it seems much milder than Delta. Vaccinated people who catch it are reporting aches and pains, headache, slight sore throat, then back to normal within three days.

Fingers crossed.

I don't want to make anyone panic, but if it triples every day for the rest of December, there will be over 125 BILLION cases of Omicron in Japan entering 2022.

Yep it’s not comparable, it’s three times more in proportion to the population.

We don’t need to test as much… and thiS might just have been working. Coz if the situation is as grave as you suggested, louisfernandc, the death toll should also be comparable to Korea etc… It’s not been the case.

@hattorikun the calculations just show that by testing much less than Korea, over the same period Japan had proportionally three times more deaths than Korea. It was a simple answer to “Japan has proven itself “. Wrong.

Don't people here realise that the borders have been closed all but 3 weeks of the entire year to non-residents?

The borders ARE closed.

It's inevitably being brought in by residents- believe it or not.

@louisferdinadc…

we don’t have to be sick or die to fit your calculations

“Mostly by not testing and not reporting deaths as COVID-related if that wasn’t their main morbidity.”

Proof? Whatever you claim, make it reasonable. Otherwise, who cares? Life goes on here. We are fine with prevention etiquettes… and we don’t need lockdowns or mandates.

Please close the borders right now.

It will be impossible to hold Omicron back. It's likely already spreading in the community, and since symptoms are not so severe, most cases are not being reported.

@reason “Japan had proven itself”, meh. Mostly by not testing and not reporting deaths as COVID-related if that wasn’t their main morbidity.

Testing is actually one important factor in managing the epidemic, obviously not the only one but especially if associated with quick isolation of positive cases and close contacts, can highly contribute to limiting damage. If we take the example of a relatively comparable country like Korea (an industrialized democracy, with high life expectancy and low incidence of co-morbidity, basically also an ‘island’ only accessible by air and sea given the neighbor…), by June 15, 2021 Korea had undergone 10,196,470 pcr tests. 

Japan has approximately 74 million more people than the 52 million of Korea, meaning just the extra population is in itself 142% that of Korea. If Japan had tested the same proportion of its population than Korea, by June 15 it should have done 10,196,470 (like Korea) + 14,478,987 (for the 142% additional population) = 24,675,457 tests. 

It had done instead 15,494,981 tests, meaning 9,180,476 tests less than expected if the same approach had been taken. 

Given the proportion between the two populations, in terms of death Japan could have also expected an additional share of 142% of Korea’s covid deaths (2,257), meaning 5,461, but had instead 15,768 officially recorded deaths, almost three times more than predictable. 

It is to be noted that Korea has imposed pcr tests and a strict quarantine (now lifted for those vaccinated in Korea and a few other cases) to all visitors since the very beginning, but has not closed its borders a single day to its returning foreign residents (thanks Japan for the almost unique experience!).

What Japan has done best is blaming someone else for the pandemic and delaying tests and vaccines because they needed to be confirmed on the “unique” Japanese (Pfizer had actually included hundreds Japanese living in the USA in their trials but the government refused to consider them because of “possible different diet”).

A sign at the back of a seat means no picture (center left of the picture). Only AP journalists are allowed.

Omicron is pushing the agenda for additional vaccines.

:ReasoningandWisdomNippon,

While totally relying on vaccinations from abroad and only testing people who were critical.

Yeah,good job.

Prior to restrictions immigration restrictions being tightened again, you did not need to be vaccinated to enter Japan. It enabled you to bypass anytime in a Quarantine 'Hotel' and then buy yourself out after 10 days at home with another test, rather than wait the full 14.

Japan has already proven itself.

A success when it comes to handling a Pandemic. Best among G7 and the world.

Go ahead with the Fear Mongering... What is it called? Omicron?

Almost sounds like a villain from the Marvel Universe.

I think what we're looking for in the news at this point, is cases of community transmission in Japan. If those eight cases were caught entering Japan and isolated properly, it's not yet community transmission.

Once community transmission is discovered in any country, the country should estimate the most rapid spread to a peak about 45 days out for Omicron variant.

A peak of what kind of what symptoms, and how serious -- this remains to be determined.

Pfizer says its research shows a third vaccination of Pfizer BioNTech orovides quite good protection against Omicron, as good as 2 doses against the original Covid-19 strain. The new Prine Minister spoke about replicating that research in Japan -- I don't think that research has begun yet. Why the delay?

It seems to me that if the SDF forces were taking reservations at the mass vaccination sites for third doses right now, the number of people with three shots-full vaccination could be enough to slow down Omicron in February -- but no one has started providing booster shots in Japan yet, as far as I know.

So vaccinations look to be late in 2022 just as they were in 2021, from today's vantage point.

@FYI “OK. Asahi Shimbun (Japanese version) is reporting that these were cases caught at the border. 

Not in the general community, yet.”

It’s impossible to find it in the community without testing for it. Airports are literally the only place the variant has been looked for until now.

Like all other variants before, first they circulate then they are discovered. And thanks South Africa for isolating the variant, since Japan is obviously not going to isolate any new variant, because one) it doesn’t test enough and two) can you imagine the shame of a nippon variant?

If I remember it right, you all just only intend on keeping borders wide open everywhere and to ‘live with the virus’. Well, that’s what you so intensively wished for and of course get now.

You don't have to be vaccinated for C19 to enter Japan Cleo.

Oh no, bad news.

They really need to close the borders ASAP!

So it's pretty widely established now that while highly transmissible, and more evasive of vaccines, Omicron is not as deadly as previous variants.

The world, and particularly Japan, must continue to move forward and open up.

They cannot stay closed forever, and if they're now as prepared as they say they are with hospital capacity, it should be sooner rather than later. There is no rhyme or reason behind continuing to delay.

Fully vaccinated or not?

All eight entered Japan from abroad so presumably fully vaccinated since you have to be to be let in the country.

And how many are actually sick beyond a bit of discomfort?

If what's happening with omicron overseas is true, this is barely a breeze in a teacup.

Nothing worth locking down or introducing vaccine passports for, like the UK is doing as a distraction for BoJo's lies.

Just infected or also sick, seriously sick, hospitalized?

Fully vaccinated or not?

I hope we will get these information in the later update.

Omicron has tripled!