Tokyo – Like the Tokyo chart and the surrounding area frightening new levels of COVID-19 infection, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has declared a state of emergency in the region for the second time since the pandemic began. The latest viral rise – with nearly 1,000 new cases in Tokyo on Thursday – is fueled by winter temperatures that cause people to gather indoors and exacerbated by government efforts to resume economic activity with a now-defunct domestic tourism promotion campaign .
The latest statement on the state of emergency (SOE) is very targeted, covering only Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures, which represent half of Japan. coronavirus cases. Urbanized western and central Japan can be added later to order.
The new rules
This time, the SOE restrictions mainly target the food industry.
ISSEI KATO / REUTERS
“Eating and talking is the most risky activity,” Dr. Koji Wada, a public health expert who advises the government on its response to coronavirus, told CBS News. Bars and restaurants will be asked to close until 20:00 for the duration of SOE, which is currently set to last until February 7.
Restaurants will be eligible for grants of up to approximately $ 600. Non-compliant companies can be called and publicly embarrassed.
Residents in the affected areas will be asked to avoid all non-essential outings and work from home if possible.
Schools are exempt from SOE this time, and internet cafes, gyms and even karaoke studios – which in recent months have managed to remain relatively free of COVID, apparently due to ventilation, improved hygiene and greater customer awareness – they will be allowed to remain open, albeit with shorter hours. Digital carbon sensors, which can assess how well the rooms are ventilated, are selling fast.
There is widespread support for restrictions in Japan. Separate online surveys conducted on January 6 by Japan Trend Research and Yahoo Japan found that between 72% and 80% of respondents were in favor of the latest SOE, with less than 10% opposition.
The meaning of Japan’s crisis may seem difficult to understand in the United States, where the impact of the pandemic is one different size order – So far, Japan has suffered only about 1% as many infections and deaths as the US, but the increase in the number of cases is already overwhelming for Japan’s healthcare infrastructure.
“The collapse of the medical system is already happening in some areas,” said Dr. Wada. “Other patients – ischemic [stroke] and cancer – have trouble finding treatment. ”
Too late?
Incredibly, Japan, a country with a third of the US population, has about the same number of hospital beds. However, authorities, sleepy with the satisfaction of Japan’s success in tackling infections last year, have failed to adequately prepare for the winter growth of patients, according to the business newspaper Nikkei.
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Tokyo has announced that it is adding another 500 hospital beds to treat patients with COVID-19, and the city will rent an additional hotel to accommodate mild and asymptomatic cases.
Prime Minister Suga’s popularity has waned under accusations that he acted too late to address the current spread of infections.
“Now the government is starting to use the hammer,” said Dr. Wada, “but we don’t know if it will solve this increase.”
Hiroshi Nishiura, an expert in computer modeling of infectious diseases, has released a projection that shows that unless Japan adopts wider restrictions used to suddenly reduce human contact last spring – and unless the stop stays in place for two months – the cases flatten, but remain at high levels, exceeding 1,000 a day.
Olympic dreams
Coming just six months before the planned start of the program the delay of the Tokyo Olympics, the new SOE has sown other doubts about whether the Games can be held at all without causing another wave of infections.
There are also concerns about the possibility of providing a level playing field for international competition, given the large gap in which different countries are expected to receive vaccines.