finto comments

Smithinjapan, I think your analysis are invalid, you must compare the no. of active cases and new infections too, can you tell me how many tests New Zealand are doing per day? It certainly will be lower that countries that have 10000 + new infections per day, active cases keep dropping in Japan, and the infectious nature of this virus makes it impossible to hide it if infections are rapidly on the rise, though the numbers may not be accurate, just like any other country, focus should rather be on putting measures in place that will reduce the rate of spread through contact tracing, fighting this virus requires a lot of manpower, so allocating resources well is equally important, they haven’t done it perfectly like we all hope for, but the direction it’s going isn’t bad either

Ashley, please contact your city ward office, they will guide you through to help you get the loan, from what you wrote, you do qualify, contact your city ward office as soon as possible

HBJ, Tokyo has an app called covid 19 with the green Tokyo logo on it, download it and you will get all the details there including the ages and sex of all who have tested positive

Fiddlers, I don’t know if you are up to date with what the problem on the ground is and why they have the approach they have, it’s so easy to say build more facilities, qualified professionals must man them, what they are doing now is using hotels for those with mild symptoms and reserving hospital “ICU” beds for infectious diseases for those who will develop lung disease, ICU’s in Tokyo have to serve other illness too, so not wise to reserve too many to deprive other people who need them too at any given time, remember hospital treatment facilities for serious covid 19 patients are run separately from other illnesses, there has been a lot of programs on this issue on tv recently

Since 1981, there is a specific app for Tokyo called covid 19 that’s what I use, very informative, I guess there are other ones for other prefectures, search for them in the app stores, good luck

The article gave figures of nationwide beds reserved for covid 19 patients who will develop lung disease and the percentage occupied as of now was 38%, Tokyo is over 90% and it states provisions are in place to boost that no. to 4000.

Burning bush, please read the article thoroughly before commenting

BlackLabel, your talk of liberal politicians wanting to take your liberties etc etc, I just don’t get it, the new normal is needed to keep the economy running, we cant live like we used to in the past until an effective vaccine is made, some parts of the country don’t need to wait for Tokyo if there are no new cases, if the authorities in those prefectures believe they are ok to lift the state of emergency, why not, it’s their job they are doing

I will advocate for mass testing if that can be done on a daily basis for the entire population

I don’t expect NewZealand to be testing tens of thousands per day now that they haven’t reported any case for the past days, mass testing only becomes necessary when you can no longer contact trace and have a very high no. of cases per day, having the capability doesn’t mean you must waste them where not necessary those countries who followed WHO and USA CDC advice on wearing of masks in public by all now regret it, something has been done right in Japan to avoid the catastrophe we’ve seen in other countries, if anything, we must be looking at what is being done right instead of just looking for ways to criticise and always praying dooms day will come tomorrow

a good picture will be comparing the total no. of people who died in Japan this year as compared to the previous years and if something was being hidden it will be made bare,

I still don’t understand why many of you are being negative and comparing the % of tests that turns positive with those from other countries to make up your assumptions, Japan has made it clear of its testing approach right from the beginning, they will do contact tracing and test all possible contacts and also those who fall sick or feel they have symptoms who contact the authorities and those who get referrals from their doctors, this means there will be a higher percentage of tests being positive as compared to just mass testing everyone, the contagiousness of this virus isn’t something you can hide with data manipulation, it’s been 4 months now since most of you predicted the apocalypse happening in Japan due to less testing, I’m still yet to see it, solution to this problem is not in unnecessary and unwarranted testing, it’s in how we can all play our part in preventing it’s rapid spread, that’s where Japan has been good at so far as compared to other developed countries even without a total lockdown, I go to work everyday riding on yamanote line, I haven’t ever had a test yet but I haven’t been sick too, I wear my mask and practice whatever is being asked of me everyday, yet I am positive we are doing it right

Guys why do some advocate for everyone getting tested, it makes no sense to me, if you are sick you should know where to go for your test by now just like other diseases, those tested were low because those who called or warranted test were low, you can whin all you want but deaths in Japan aren’t abnormal the data by end of year can be compared to other countries then you will all get the true picture

Guys please leave some of these decisions to the experts, the local authorities are the once in charge here not the federal government’s, they monitor the situation closely and make the best decisions for their localities, so far they are close to meeting their targets which is good, even Tokyo with its population is managing to bring its new cases under control, if they manage to keep the no’s. Under 100 for even one week, it’s a very big achievement considering the population and the fact that it’s not a total lockdown here, the economy is important too, so the Japanese balanced approach to me is the best, we must all do our part to support their efforts, so far so good, many hoping for an explosion of cases like they have in US may never see that in Japan, I’ll take abet with anyone who will want to

Mark X, I hope you read from good source what is being done on the ground, if someone’s situation does no longer merit an ICU, they are moved from there almost immediately to make room for someone who situation warrants it, this is why they’ve even come up with the use of hotels, for those with very mild symptoms or who are almost recovering,

Agent X , I don’t know where you got your info, actually these hospitals will want you out as soon as possible, try having a surgery in Japan and see when they will discharge you, they don’t keep patients in wards or ICU for that long unless it really merits it

Yoshisan, you are right, finding a balanced approach is the best solution but it’s very difficult to achieve when dealing with different people with different mentality, I think ASEAN countries have done well so far

Ani go to Shibuya at night, between 6pm and 12 pm and you will notice what has changed

User 1991, please Japan is not under a lock down, a state of emergency was declared with measures to reduce human contact by at least 80% to flatten the curve but not necessarily lock everything down, that’s why why those who can work from home are being asked to do so, those who can’t must still go to work but if possible cut their working days where the government will in effect provide subsidies to companies whose employees take some holidays during the state of emergency period,

it’s not a lockdown in Japan

And anyone who will tell me masks has no part to play in slowing down the spread of this virus still has a lot to learn about the virus, Masks will help us all protect each other and also prevent super spreaders out there, it’s more important than unnecessary testing

Sunfunbun, your argument is invalid, the main goal of any measure during a pandemic will be to get the number of people dying from it to the barest minimum as possible, so far Japan has done well with regards to that, that’s my argument, that means they are doing something right as compared to USA or UK, considering the fact that the virus arrived in Japan early enough, we are not seeing 500+ deaths a day as many on here were anticipating based on Japan’s approach, this is my argument, Japan is testing too but with a different approach which to me makes sense, Japan is Japan and they don’t have to copy what other countries do especially when results there is a disaster, nobody is underplaying the impact of this virus but Japan has navigated their ship so well so far in this storm, same goes to Korea ,China Australia, New Zealand etc

Keep reading on hear how ignoring testing everyone will kill us all in the coming weeks for the past two months but we are still here and we all see and can compare data on deaths in various countries, considering Japan had the highest cases after China in early February, does this mean anything to you guys? Back in February most of you guys were quoting CDC guidelines on mask wearing, saying they were useless, now what can you say about them? Instead of focusing resources on measures that prevent the spread, and keeping the health system from being overwhelmed you guys have been pushing for policies that will send most of us to our graves, Japanese authorities aren’t that stupid like most of you think, they are still contact tracing and testing those that are necessary, the hotel use as a make shift hospital is a very smart move considering these hotels are out of business too, these are more important that getting millions of people out there lining up to be tested, and those negative having a false sense of safety with the health system being strained too, remember there are numerous diseases out there to be treated too

This drug will only be administered to the critically ill who may die, Avigan will be the main drug, and those complaining about testing, u need to remember the strain on the health staff that it will create, u can test today and be infected today, I still supports Japan’s sensible testing approach, at least it hasn’t killed us all, look at the figures, we must focus on what’s important, not overwhelming the health system and creating unnecessary deaths, over testing can create a false sense of safety too, many out here type as if the authorities here are fools, they are making decisions based on the reality of the situation at their disposal and not just follow what some other countries do, too much bashing out here but the figures don’t deserve them

Have any of you been following the Tokyo official website for COVID-19? I will advice you do, personally I’m against this mass unnecessary testing, if you feel you are sick and suspect it’s covid, stay home, call the relevant health service number for help, you will eventually be tested if your situation is covid related, they are now using their resources well, the idea of mass infection out there has no basis, you can’t hide this for even 3 days , looking at what’s happening out there, people are so quick to bash but these guys aren’t that stupid, you way your options and chose the best, so far their strategy haven’t created the mass fatalities we are seeing in other countries who only recently got introduced to the virus, the chaos that these mass testing will create is counterproductive, reported new cases in Tokyo dropped to 13 yesterday what’s important is for them to use enough resources to track possible contacts to any case and stop it from spreading, it it requires a lock down I’m sure the will, but for now I applaud them for the good job done,

Even mild cases require four days of high temperature, I doubt if there are thousands of those out there not being noticed, you just can’t hide the effect of mass infection of this virus for one week, we were way ahead of Italy back in February in terms of no. Of cases, so I must say it’s good job done here

Japan will come out of this as winners, it all comes down to their way of life, so far considering when they had their first case and this ship saga, they been on top of things, cool head approach seems to be working here, if they’ve been able to get Hokkaido under control, that alone needs some applauding, I’m not being complacent but I’ll keep wearing my mask and going about my life as I’m required, I’ll never panic nor give in to fear, I can’t complain after seeing what’s going on else where, I’m glad I’m here

Guys if you feel unwell it doesn’t mean it’s caused by covid 19 , please go to the hospital and let the professional treat you, stop complaining about not getting tested for this virus for testing sake, what’s important is that you will be able to get treatment when you actually get infected, you can’t have so many out there infected without symptoms in such an ageing population for two months and yet not see the fatalities we see in Italy. I’m not being complacent but I commend those in charge for taking the right decisions after seeing the results in a month

If cases are so high in this ageing population but are just underreported, you can’t hide it for even one week considering what we are seeing from else where, the virus has been in with us for longer than they have with Italy and USA, yet things are still under control here, that’s a result you can’t dispute.

I hear Japan not doing enough because they are not testing enough, why would you want to overwhelm your medical system with unnecessary testing and risk not being able to treat people who need it, they treated hundreds from the ship, how many died? How many of you here have the symptoms with high continuous high fever and then be rejected by a hospital? Why use up all the tests kits now on people who just want to be tested for testing sake? In the end we will all be able to compare Japan to other approaches elsewhere to see which was more effective, for now Japan needs to be commended considering its borders has been open until last week !

How are you guys still doubting Japan has been able to control its cases, how can this virus be spreading and no and people dying in secret without any word out there? Let’s face facts, there is no way anyone getting a cute pneumonia would not go to the hospital, almost everyone has insurance here, if hospitals get these patients even without testing we will still here about them, all hoping for the worst for Japan are not going to see it happen because they’ve adopted a cool head approach to the situation which has been good so far, u can criticize all you want but I’m happy with what we have here than what is going on in Europe and USA

I’ll still choose the cool head Japanese approach over the panic approach, the authorities must stick with an approach that works for Japan, take everything into consideration and make well informed decisions, no need to create a situation that will overwhelm and collapse the health care system, then when the time comes when u really need it, you will be left with many deficiencies, so far comparing with what we’ve seen in most countries, I’m happy with what we have going here