Wilkins King comments

Perhaps the 8th wave is nearing the end of it's cycle. Well done Japan.

Thankfully, case numbers an improvement over the last two weeks; however, If the economics driven Japanese government, in their esteemed wisdom, reclassify Covid as a seasonal flu, when, pray tell, might that season begin? - Summer? - Spring? - Fall? - Winter?

The last global pandemic 100 years ago lasted 25 months - without warp speed vaccines or masking; yet, here we are in ultra modern Japan (and elsewhere) going on three years still trending in the wrong direction. Heaven help us all...

Sadly, the Land of the Rising Sun has become the Land of the Rising Covid. I guess "misery loves company ", otherwise, how else to explain why highly infected Japan and China desperately want cross country tourism to resume. Live and let die...

A neverending story. It appears that Cool Japan is now Covid Japan with no end in sight. Will no one step forward with a "one size fits all" solution?

Not a good time of the year to be heading down this slippery slope. How many more Covid waves must Japan endure before the government comes up with a different approach and reality based solution? One life to live...

He might as well have sentenced her to death. Cruel and unusual punishment in the extreme. Thank God she survived.

Love (and passing the NY bar exam) conquers all.

Covid zero will never happen in Japan.

They should put him under the jail and investigate the company he works for. A merchant of death...

Like closing the barn door after the horses have escaped, but in 100 years when the next pandemic hits, we ready!

Covid case numbers we can live with. This is not a zero sum game.

Launching a missile over sovereign territory is a line no nation should be allowed to cross. The ultimate warning system is to wipe North Korea off the map.

Right now it appears that Covid is the least of the problems in anxiety riddled Japan.

Which way is up? Until the situation in Ukraine is resolved and demented despot Putin is removed from power, Japan inflationary pressure will continue unabated. Time for the BOJ to think outside the box.

Keep those Covid case numbers down, welcome back tourists and stay positive Japan.

Students are back in school. Global summer tourist season is over. People with jobs aren't travelling anywhere right now. Who are these mythical travelers from China, South Korea, Thailand, Australia, the US and Europe that are going to rescue Japan?

Loosen up people. Take off those masks!

... and the beat goes on.

The new government mandated Covid reporting rules had the intended effect - lower numbers and minimal business disruptions. Brilliant!

The Covid pandemic is over in Japan.

If someone really wants to visit the most incredible country on earth, a few slightly unique and mildly irksome rules won't stand in their way. Let's go to Tokyo!

Easy money...

Taking a bureaucratic approach to a medical issue never works. A change in Covid reporting rules will do nothing to impact the pandemic trajectory. Running in quicksand...

Seems like a distant memory when last year, Tokyo was the envy of the world with a low of only 17 Covid cases one day. Stay vigilant Nippon.

The high Covid death rate is very troubling because it is finite. No government counter measures in place is a dereliction of duty.

Changing the classification of Covid for medical reporting purposes does nothing to lower Japan's record W.H.O. high infection rates and deaths. Why count only 65 and over and severe cases and ignore data from everyone else? Who's bright idea was this?

No rest for the weary...

Proof positive that the real world effect of the Covid vaccine regimen is to keep you from needing hospitalization, including the ICU - especially if you're over 65. Someone, however, forgot to tell Kishida to wait at least 7 days (not 3) for his second booster shot to be effective, then start the vacation.

Time for the government to step up to the plate and show real leadership in this neverending Covid battle. So unfair to put all the pressure on the people to resolve this crisis. Partial lockdown kudasai!