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Last year, there were many people who wanted to take a test even though they had minor symptoms. But not now.

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Fujiki Ishihara, director of the Kitashinagawa Fuji Clinic in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward. He says not everyone exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms wants to get tested, which means COVID-19 testing is failing to catch up to the speed of the coronavirus.

© Asahi Shimbun

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There was a booth doing PCR testing in Shinjuku station on Sunday. They were doing tests on anyone who wanted to be tested. The reason was to take a random sample of the population and see how many virus carriers. No idea if or when the results will be published but I'd like to see them.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Testing should be free.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Any adult with kids in day care up to high school will avoid getting tested at all costs. If you get tested, the school must be informed, regardless of the result. So even if you're negative, you will be looked upon with suspicious eyes. If you're positive, the school will broadcast this to everyone. Even though names are withheld, enough details are released to surmise the identity of the "infected". Rumors alone are enough to frighten anyone out of getting tested.

Last year, these idiotic policies were not in place. The busy body bodies have had plenty of time to build up the "don't even bother to test because you will be looked upon with suspicion no matter what the outcome" policies.

So, I think the dude should have said "most people are afraid to get tested" instead of "not everyone wants to get tested."

Japan.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

He says not everyone exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms wants to get tested, which means COVID-19 testing is failing to catch up to the speed of the coronavirus.

Really? I may not live in Shinagawa, Tokyo, but getting tested is still a problem. I live in one of the biggest cities in Japan, and most places you can get tested take 500 people a day at most. They don't have the capacity for more. When one of my colleagues needed to get tested (long story), they told him directly that if he didn't have significant symptoms, then they couldn't test him because they didn't have spare capacity.

I don't know about small towns or villages, but the problem here is not so much that people don't want to get tested. The problem is more that there is no capacity at the testing sites. It almost seems like he's spinning the whole situation to justify not testing enough people. "We don't test enough because people don't want to be tested".

3 ( +4 / -1 )

If you have symptoms, you are reliant on the government to give you a test appointment, and that appointment may take well over a week after the initial request, assuming they grant your request. So unless your disease is moving to severe/critical after 1-2 weeks, it is unlikely the test appointment date would even arrive before you recover.

There was a booth doing PCR testing in Shinjuku station on Sunday.

Those booths are for asymptomatic people, if you have symptoms, especially fever, it becomes much more difficult to access a test.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

In every nearly country on earth, the mantra "GET TESTED" is blasted everywhere.

But not Japan.

And now this guy is blaming the people for lack of testing access.

2 ( +7 / -5 )

He says not everyone exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms wants to get tested, which means COVID-19 testing is failing to catch up to the speed of the coronavirus.

A lot of people have been saying this for a very long time now. It’s so obvious.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

No, they were literally walk in and get a test places. A guy standing outside asking passers by if they want a test.

No those are for asymptomatic people, who wants these tests before visiting family etc.

If you have symptoms you are not allowed to use those places. While antigen tests are cheaper, PCR tests are expensive, costing 20,000-40,000 yen out of pocket.

If you read the fine prints, most of the places have the following lines:

■検査対象

発熱などの症状がある方、濃厚接触者については、検査をお断りし、医療機関での受診をお勧めする可能性がございます。

In those cases, you will need to have government health office clearance to secure a test appointment in one of the approved covid facilities, and that usually takes well over a week. It is very difficult to get a test once you have symptoms.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The quote came from there :

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14423945

The article is not just about people not wanting to be tested but about the overall problem of testing, including the fact that the ability to identify potential people to test decreased.

A more recent article on the subject and also foot traffic :

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14427373

@blahblah222 and Mr Kipling I think you are not talking about the same thing. Mr Kipling seems to have been talking about a special "event" were they were conducting random testing to have an idea of the current situation ; not the usual testing system.

@Rob

You mean because soft language made people unaware of what we are talking about :

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14418705

0 ( +1 / -1 )

If you are a gaijin, walk into a clinic and cough a lot. You get tested.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Because they don't want to be imprisoned in a hotel.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

blahblah222...

Those booths are for asymptomatic people, if you have symptoms, especially fever, it becomes much more difficult to access a test.

No, they were literally walk in and get a test places. A guy standing outside asking passers by if they want a test.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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