as_the_crow_flies comments

And in case anyone doubts the strain on the health system, people needing medical attention are having to wait as much as 24 hours:

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14692078

I was part of that statistic, falling unconscious at a clinic and needing to be transferred to an A&E. I 'only' had to wait about 2 hours in the ambulance, was put on oxygen and a drip, and prescribed anti-virals (as a priority case, not everyone is entitled to this). After patching me up, they originally wanted me to walk home (mid-afternoon, over 30 degrees), not use a taxi, because all the special taxis were already in use. After they decided it might be a bad look, I had another two hour wait before they found a community ambulance to get me home.

Three weeks on, I am able to go out, but it's not a steady recovery, my hearing is affected, I have headaches and currently low oxygen levels (at least I was lucky because my partner 'qualified' for an oximeter).

My partner has a different range of symptoms, but he's by no means back to health.

These are two examples of so-called mild cases.

For context, 250,403 got it, 250 died, so thats 0.1%.

Like flu.

Around 3,000 people in Japan die from flu in an average year - which would, if spread evenly throughout the year (which it's not of course) be 8-9 deaths a day. Currently Covid deaths are around 250 daily. Which is probably why the Ministry of Health thinks that just relabelling Covid as a little sniffles is unlikely to magically melt away sick and dying people in the hospitals. Magical thinkers who can't cope with reality might like to hear that it doesn't exist any more, but most sane people want the government to equip the health system to deal with the situation the best it can. @Nepalibabu has explained very clearly why recognising reality helps hospitals to cope with the pressure they're under. In countries with less enlightened health policies, sickness can bankrupt not only the sick, but entire families of a sick person. We all know there are certain countries where people avoid going to hospital because they can't afford to be treated. I for one am thankful that Japan is more enlightened.

It's also a basic public health measure, which applies to other dangerous contagious illnesses like TB, that recognises that untreated infectious sick people are a risk to the whole community and the whole health system, again as @Nepalibabu explains.

But it depends upon the source you choose to get your information.

If you just choose social media, like youtube, facebook and JT, then of course you have to continue with Google to answer your questions.

Erm ... considering you post almost daily on JT, you might ask yourself why you continue to come here and rail against it not meeting your expectations. It's as pointless as shouting at your cat for not behaving like a dog. It's a cat.

What's to say a new variant won't become prominent by the time this "special" iteration of the vaccine becomes available?

@wolfshine - That's an interesting philosophical question. In order to avoid mental health problems, it's important to learn to grapple with uncertainty, because uncertainty is the nature of human existence. Science can help to keep asking questions and extending our knowledge of a particular field, but we are human, and will never have absolute knowledge. Good science acknowledges that, and iterations are a sign of knowledge and capacity developing. So back to your questions, researchers are working hard to develop vaccines which are as effective as possible and mitigate risks and damage as threats develop and inevitably change. As @virusrex always painstakingly explains how the scientific method is applied to dealing with the pandemic, by logical reasoning, and caution when uncertain.

I think wanting existence to be black and white is likely to give anyone serious stress, as this impossible wish is hit by reality.

Does nobody else think it's weird that this won't be available to people who haven't been vaccinated? Or at least that's how the article reads to me...

I very much doubt that is the case @Wobot. I have had all my vaccinations through a non-Japan route, and when I asked the local Covid hotline (I was hoping to become registered within the Japanese system as well as under that of the country that vaccinated me, in order to get future boosters locally), they said, if you are not yet registered in the Japan system but want a vaccine under the Japan system, just contact us, and we will work out the appropriate action for your case. So if you are thinking about being vaccinated for the first time, just contact the relevant local authority and ask for it. I am sure they will be very accomodating.

Bizarre to see these discussions of 'Europe', with dozens of countries and hundreds of millions of people. Imagine if I made the same generalisations about 'the Americas' (35 countries, 1.014 billion inhabitants), for example that many city dwellers live in uninsulated tin-roofed single brick walled shanty dwellings without a window.

And because it's not an STD, 'safer sex', like wearing a condom, will not protect you.

 Basically if you're not gay/bisexual then you have nothing to worry about.

Wrong. Misinformation. Sexual contact is an easy way to spread it, but it is not an STD. All close contact can lead to infection. That's why people who live with an infected person are also at high risk.

The health system is creaking at the seams. My partner should have been admitted to hospital with Covid last week, but has had to stay home with minimal home monitoring, and that is only down to one amazing doctor who has gone above and beyond, calling every two to three days to check on him and me. I collapsed with low oxygen but was also sent home with meds. My care would also have limited to been a daily call from an app, if not for the dedication of this doctor to check up on me. This is the reality of triage. Even if you collapse, even if you are immunocompromised, you cannot get personal treatment because the system is so overrun.

We are giving thanks that we got our meds, got an oximeter, as these are also rationed, are more or less stable, if not actually improving, and had the luck to have been tested by an outstanding doctor. These are down to luck, and I worry for those less fortunate who find themselves abandoned and untreated at home, with no monitoring to check on those who take a sudden turn for the worse. Just like last year during the Olympics, this situation will lead to some dying untreated at home.

So do all you can to avoid getting infected, to keep you and those around you safe, and to try not to burden the system any more right now.

It would be more accurate to say 'second confirmed case' rather than 'confirmed its second case', as you can bet that there are more than a few cases passing under the radar. And it that way it will spread uncontrolled. Please be careful out there, stay safe, avoid risky behaviours and help slow the spread. I agree that in Japan, young people are likely to be a high risk group, because of lack of proper health education. Sex workers and those who buy sex are likely to be other major vectors. This is the danger of not learning from history, even recent history. Hoping I'm wrong, but quietly pessimistic.

Well I think I have the current version of the virus from Sunday and it is the worst yet for me. Terrible fever, headache, body ache, sore throat and non-stop coughing. Take care everyone.

I hope you managed to get Lagevrio anti-viral medicine. It seemed in A&E that they are prescribing it if you are at risk. I hit 39.1 and found the headaches and body aches the worst. For my partner it was more like a regular cold, and as I almost certainly got it from him, it has different strokes for different folks. Keep taking the fluids, try to eat well to keep your strength up, and hope you start to come through it soon, Reckless.

I also hope some of the chronic idiocy regurgitated on here keeps you amused ;)

Good for you Arum. You are making a great business case to convince your company it's possible to expand its overseas markets, and also to make life easier for the growing numbers of Muslim residents of Japan. Also shows the way for many other Japanese food producers, restaurants etc, that it's not rocket science to innovate and cater to different dietary needs, while still keeping traditional flavours. Rigid thinking and refusal to innovate and respond are the death of any business, so the company are intelligent to diversify their staff and listen to them.

Remember even 10 or 15 years ago, it would be normal in this country to be met with a blank stare if you asked whether a product contained meat or animal products? Things are changing, and it's thanks to small moves by people with vision, persistence and energy. Gives a bit of hope.

Meanwhile, Japan is content to supply free testing--and a free ride home from the hospital if you are sick but don't meet their daily changing requirements to be hospitalized.

Actually, the testing is not so easy to come by. My local clinic has been flooded, so the testing slots filled up quickly and it took 3 days of being symptomatic before I got the chance. And they said, forget trying to get tested round at other local clinics if you're not symptomatic.

The free ride home depends on availability. Taxis were all fully booked, so I got stranded waiting for a community ambulance. Actually, they tried to convince me to walk home first. After losing consciousness.

You forgot to add, you get a 2 minute daily interaction with a phone bot that asks you if you have a pulse oximeter. Though I will say, my partner got a live person coming to the door, as he's high risk. Also, I did get the anti-virals during my couple of hours in A&E, in recognition of my age. Sort of a backhanded nod of respect for entering my golden years?

All of which I am grateful for, when I look at those shocking maps where huge swaths of the globe are still strangers to vaccines, and health staff are triaging effectively with the stretched resources they have. Things would look way worse if I was in many other parts of the world.

The real reason Japan is at 116 on the world gender rankings and is I think the lowest in East Asia, despite being among the most economically powerful, are the feudal attitudes to women laid bare in this story. It still never fails to shock when you read about the consequences of these inhumane ideas. What is heartening is that the Catholic organisation that has run the baby hatch system for 15 years is trying to address the immediate crisis facing newborns, as well as trying to support the mothers, and even trying to prevent some of the situations arising in the first place, all in a caring, non-judgemental way.

And for those surprised that it is a Catholic organisation doing this, maybe you never heard of liberation theology? This has been a powerful current within the church dating back at least to the 1960's, and having a powerful impact on many young, idealistic and humanistic priests and nuns, particularly in the Americas, many of whom have been in the lead in progressive social activism across the continent.

e heard good thing about Paxlovid - I wonder how difficult it is to get prescribed though?

In the US it's pretty easy, but here I'm not so sure of its availability - can a clinic prescribe it or only a hospital?

I'd guess they are triaging it - the clinic didn't prescribe it, but the large hospital A&E did. My immunocompromised partner is also on it since yesterday, prescribed by a transplant centre. It's  4 x 200g Lagevrio® (molnupiravir), twice a day.

Thanks for all the well-wishes. I consider myself averagely robust, but I can say the past three days with this have been anything but fun. Ironically, I actually feel better today, but even so, since my partner got the pulse oximeter yesterday, my oxygen saturation has stayed at 93%. Apart from the 2 hours I was hooked up to oxygen in the ambulance. The leaflet they gave us with the oximeter says call 119 if your saturation is at 93% or below, but when the health worker dropped by the house to deliver it, she said basically disregard the leaflet, the number is now below 90%. And that, my friends, is how you can reduce the number of 'serious' cases at a stroke - just massage the numbers. Online resources tell me below 95% is considered problematic, and needing constant monitoring. Now personally, I am much more comfortable in my own home, it's not like I really want to be in some nicotine-smelling Apa place, much less a hospital, but it is kind of scary being one of these 'mild-not-mild' cases. And the words of the health staff and ambulance staff make very clear they don't want to send people home.

Normally Japanese healthcare is very conservative. Any of us who have experienced it pre-corona know that they kept people in far longer than in other countries. So it's even more notable that despite giving me guidelines of what is a dangerously low oxygen saturation on their own leaflet, in practice, they find themselves forced to deny care. You would think my partner and I's case would be a clear candidate for at least one of us to isolate at an oxygen station (ie hotel with daily live check ups), but we are stuck together in a small space at home. We need to report daily to an answering machine on Line.

In fact, the only reason they kept me occupying a hospital bed so long is that after asking me if I could walk home (!), they drew back, but all the special taxis were fully booked, so they had to wait to ship me home in an community care ambulance. Having me pass out again on the street in the afternoon heat would not be a good look I guess. Just to restate what I said in earlier posts, when waiting at the clinic where I collapsed to take me to hospital, the nurse said that all Covid beds in Yokohama and Kawasaki were full.

Surely the strain on the hospital system is basically due to government mismanagement? 

My impression today is of a system of triage which is well set up and works extremely smoothly. The paramedic just explained that there are so many cases, so many calls, that their system of triage is pretty ruthless. It has to be. I don't know whether this is despite government mismanagement, but it seemed to me that actual healthcare institutions are doing a fantastic job. But right now, there are just too many cases to give everyone the care they need. For everyone who's had light symptoms, I'm really pleased for you, but please don't assume that because you got off lightly, everyone is, and believe that the healthcare system is struggling to cope with the sheer numbers right now. Whatever the reason.

It's not complicated to understand. If a variant is massively more infectious, then statistically, even if it's a a low percentage of cases, the absolute number of people doing poorly rockets. Doctors and nurses have just sent me home saying good luck, call the health centre. Health centre just has an automated msging service.

Stop disinforming. Hospitalisation is not low. Hospitals are turning Covid patients away because there are no beds. I was sat in an ambulance for hours as there was no space inside the hospital. Then the doctor apologised for sending me home, saying very sorry, no room. Take care.

Yes, absolutely hard to believe. I have just come back from hospital. Despite collapsing with Covid and being taken to Casualty (A&E), I was told the hospitals here in Kanagawa are absolutely full, and there are no beds available. Now if collapsing and needing oxygen, as I did, is a mild case, and my immunocompromised partner has also been refused admission, this gives you an idea of the scale of the pressure on the health system. The paramedics, the nurses and doctors said, we're very sorry, there are no beds, we will give you an ambulance ride home with some meds, then you're on your own. My oxygen levels are low, but still no beds, and just a couple of hours on a drip and with oxygen.

Please, do not minimise the scale of the problem and the pressure the health system is under. The health workers are all doing the very best they can, super efficiently, but there are just not enough resources to treat everyone. Do not minimise the seriousness of this disease, deaths are already heading upwards, and if treatment is effectively being rationed (no hotel quarantine and no oxygen for me despite low oxygen saturation and none for my partner despite being in a vulnerable group), people will die from lack of treatment. And not just Covid patients, anyone who needs emergency care is at risk. So don't have a heart attack, get heatstroke, have an accident, as the health system is under critical strain.

It would help if the article used less confusing terms. It's confusing calling someone who is going to come and live here for three, four, five years a 'foreign visitor'. It would make much more sense to use 'visitor' to mean someone coming on holiday, to see family, or on business, and call the others inbound foreign students or workers. For the average Japanese, a furriner is a furriner, and they make no distinctions, but this kind of article is confusing and perpetuates mistaken ideas about the situation. It would make sense for inbound workers/students to quarantine at their workplace or campus for a few days, to help slow down the spread of new variants and protect the health system in the current situation of soaring infections.

The North Korea-style 'guided tour' idea was dumb from the start, and even dumber with the current soaring figures.

The Japanese government response is spectacularly out of sync with reality, and even the advice of their own experts - stupendous dithering in sporadic dysfunctional flip-flops, as someone above put it so well.

Most of the EU consider this Tory government as another parent's obnoxious brat whose antics everyone had to put with, as the noise and the tantrums got worse and worse. Thankfully it took itself outside and is now sat on the naughty step, smearing itself in its own sh;t. Would you want to let it back in the house? They will probably be forced to do something as the brat is now playing with rocks and threatening to smash windows.

Tanaka said that Abe was not a member nor an adviser to the church.

Well he would, wouldn't he?

According to the link provided by @Soylent Green, governments under the LDP have been very ... erm ... permissive towards the UC's pressure sales techniques (isn't it basically scamming?) and the lack of any legal comeback in Japan over the decades. And Abe seemingly publicly endorsing the Moonies as recently as last September seems to suggest that Abe and the Moonies were thick as ... well ... whatever. Japan seems to be one of, if not the biggest, source of their funding.

If all this is true, it's even more deliciously ironic, the public anti-Korea nationalistic posturing of the right wing of the LDP, if in fact, they have helped the Moonies to trouser massive amounts of Church members' money.

It would certainly plausibly explain the motive. As the shooter had military training, and he'd seen his family bankrupted, maybe his mother swallowed up by the cult over a period of years, you could imagine him resorting to revenge on someone he saw as responsible for the lack of legal recourse.

BA.5 almost certainly the dominant strain behind this wave. Evidence so far indicating it is a very successful one, evading to an extent vaccine protection, massively increasing asymptomatic spread, and having a longer infectious period. Still the best way to minimise your chance of serious illness and possibly reduce the rate of spread are... the same things as up to now : social distancing, masking, getting boosters.

The herd immunity idea also taking a backseat, as there's a high rate of reinfection, which will be more risky for those suffering from long COVID. Also seems that BA.5 is more pathogenic than previous Omicrons, lodging more easily in lung tissue. So take it seriously.

Just because we're all tired of it, doesn't mean it's tired of us.

"So of course this kind of article isn't a barefaced manipulation by an LDP mouthpiece designed to pursuade waverers to stay home and not vote against the LDP, is it?"

" 'Course not! Whatever gave you that impression?"

So let me see if I've got this. The right to paternity leave is enshrined in Japanese law. Employee takes paternity leave, company harasses him (seems like the evidence for that is pretty conclusive, so not in dispute here), employee takes the company to court for not giving him his legal rights, court rules it is 'inevitable' that the company deny him his legal rights. Mmkaaaay, now I understand. It does sound absolutely inevitable that a court would strike down a right enshrined in law. Why would anyone think otherwise? After all, what are laws for? And the problem here is the employee asking a court to uphold his legal rights. Perish the thought!

Bizarre that this apparently seems to be a Japan specific problem. I don't really have any specialist knowledge, but is the rest of the world unaware of this and creating defense issues, or are Japanese wind turbines unique? Whatever, it does sound stunningly incompetent if this is a well known issue that they haven't built safeguards into the planning and approval process before.

So funny how many of the anti-maskers have been banging on about 'freedom' now seem to be cheering a paternalistic push to stop people from wearing masks! Put your money where your mouth is (pun intended) and let people who want to continue wearing masks do so. Why does there have to be a push to unmask?

A lot of people surely keep their mask on even while outdoors as that way you keep it viable. Handling it and taking it in and out of pockets, bags etc can contaminate it and/or squash it. People understand this, so they choose to wear it from door to door.

I hope people do use their own judgement and ignore any dumb government attempts to prevent people using masks. Specially as BA.4 and BA.5 variants are causing hospitalisations and deaths to surge again in some countries.

It smacks of the same passive aggressive pressure from governments in certain countries to push people back into offices even when they could far more easily continue doing their job from home. And the point is what? Right, to line the pockets of transport conglomorates, the owners of office buildings, suit manufacturers, big cafe chains who are put out by the fact many jobs have been proved to be more productive done from home.

This is the REAL nanny state at work!

Time to dust off that classic photo of that ripping wheeze, when de Piffle was stuck flailing in the air on a zip wire, waving a pair of Union Jacks, the clown. Sums his government up perfickly.

Labour'll be rubbing their hands, as this is their best possible outcome for the upcoming by-elections. He's an electoral liability. Nice one, Boris.

Oh the speed! I feel giddy.

That said, if they are prioritising public health, the US is an odd choice to get first dibs.

Anyway, let's see if the world has moved on from Japan during Sakoku II.