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Hokkaido, Japan Ended Its Coronavirus State Of Emergency Last Month. This Week It Reimposed It
Hotair ^
| 04/17/2020
| John Sexton
Posted on 04/17/2020 7:23:56 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Japans northern island of Hokkaido is home to about 5 million people. When the coronavirus began spreading around the world in February, Hokkaido was the first place in Japan to declare a state of emergency. And that early decision appeared to work. The number of new cases dropped and the emergency order was lifted. When the emergency ended, Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki said, There was no surge of infected patients that led to the collapse of the medical environment. We overcame without the fearful circumstance.
In essence, Hokkaido had flattened the curve without overwhelming the health system. The emergency was lifted on March 19 but earlier this week Hokkaido declared a second state of emergency as the number of infections began to climb again:
We are facing a crisis of a second wave in the spread of (the coronavirus) infections, Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki told reporters, asking residents to refrain from making nonessential outings.
Hokkaido had declared its own state of emergency on Feb. 28 ahead of the government and lifted it on March 19, citing signs that the coronavirus spread was abating in the prefecture, a popular area for both Japanese and foreign tourists.
Schools in Sapporo, which have just gradually resumed classes since April 6, will be closed again from Tuesday to May 6. Residents of the prefecture are also asked not to travel to Sapporo or to the areas covered by the states declaration of emergency.
The BBC reports that none of the new cases in Hokkaido come from foreigners, so this isnt a case of a new outbreak that was imported from abroad. The president of the Japan Institute for Global Health said the lesson is that its easy to knock the numbers down through concerted effort but harder to keep them down:
In the last week, Hokkaido has recorded 135 new confirmed cases of Covid-19. Unlike the first outbreak in February, there is no evidence the virus has been re-imported from outside Japan
It is relatively easy to tackle clusters, to contact trace and isolate, says Professor Kenji Shibuya of Kings College London
The major lesson to take from Hokkaido is that even if you are successful in the containment the first time around, its difficult to isolate and maintain the containment for a long period. Unless you expand the testing capacity, its difficult to identify community transmission and hospital transmission.
The new state of emergency is set to end May 6th but a local health official suggested the real end of this is much further away:
We feel we have to keep on doing the same thing, he said. The goal is to minimise contact between people to stop the spread of the virus.
So how long does that mean?
Till we find a vaccine, he says. We have to keep on trying to stop the expansion.
Its worth noting that Governors in Japan dont have the same police powers to keep people home as Governors in America. But the point is that Hokkaido did initially do enough to bend the curve at the cost of some real harm to the islands economy, which relies heavily on tourism. But it turns out that doing that once only bought them a few weeks before they had to start doing it again. The same could be true here once things begin to reopen. We could in fact be facing several cycles of opening and closing until there is a vaccine or some other treatment.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Japan; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: coronavirus; hokkaido; japan
To: SeekAndFind
The virus aint gone, folks.
Not going away just because a bunch of extroverts got tired of living in an introvert world.
2
posted on
04/17/2020 7:29:53 AM PDT
by
ctdonath2
(Interesting how those so interested in workERS are so disinterested in workING.)
To: SeekAndFind
The “we cannot re-open the country!” stories will be relentless between now and 5/1.
3
posted on
04/17/2020 7:30:31 AM PDT
by
gibsonguy
To: ctdonath2
190 deaths in Japan....New York and Italy are worst case scenarios.....go hide under your bed for the next 3 years
4
posted on
04/17/2020 7:38:09 AM PDT
by
The Fop
(God Bless Donald Trump, Frank Sinatra, Joan Rivers, and the Fightin' Rat Pack Wing of the GOP)
To: SeekAndFind
As long as we don’t overwhelm the hospitals, it should be free choice. If you want to go out, do so. If not, stay in.
5
posted on
04/17/2020 7:44:43 AM PDT
by
brownsfan
(Behold, the power of government cheese.)
To: The Fop
If there were 190 deaths in all of Japan (pop. 125 million) perhaps that just indicates that they have a lower cultural tolerance for death than we do.
We’re cool with 20 or 30 being gunned down in Chicago every weekend.
6
posted on
04/17/2020 7:46:09 AM PDT
by
Buckeye McFrog
(Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer)
To: SeekAndFind
Could happen here too... But staying locked down is a potential catastrophe. I’d like to think there has been a background buildup of “herd immunity” to dampen it down, but who knows>?
7
posted on
04/17/2020 7:48:37 AM PDT
by
HangnJudge
(China Lied, People died, Never Forget, this Decade's 9-11)
To: SeekAndFind
I noticed the sizeable rise in the number of cases a few weeks ago, after Japan had brought them nearly to a halt.
The deaths/case rate had risen to 3.5%, as the # sick had fallen to a bit over 70%. Now the deaths/case has fallen to 2% due to the rate of spread increasing, while the # still sick has risen to 88%.
8
posted on
04/17/2020 7:59:07 AM PDT
by
lepton
("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
To: Buckeye McFrog
But we can avoid chicago. This crap spreads invisible.
To: HangnJudge
I live in New York City and ride mass transit on a daily basis..... I witness the crowds, the poor hygiene, the homeless people..... I believe New York City area reached peak infection prior to the lockdown.... If everything opened back up tomorrow here I don’t think there would be a significant spike in either infections, hospitalizations, or deaths.... there could be a spike in other parts of the country, but it’s not going to be worse than New York or Italy anywhere..... Remember the stories a few weeks ago about how England screwed up by trying to take the same path as Sweden, but then they changed their mind at the last minute, and it might be too late for them?.... Remember the stories about how millions were going to die in Iran because the government is so incompetent and religious leaders were telling people that Islam would protect them from the virus?..... Show me one country that has a million deaths, or half a million, or even a 100,000, or even 50,000?..... Are we to believe that the whole entire world is just fabulously fantastic at social distancing, and that’s what is keeping the numbers down?.... Not buying it, today I am officially a proud flu bro!
10
posted on
04/17/2020 8:05:19 AM PDT
by
The Fop
(God Bless Donald Trump, Frank Sinatra, Joan Rivers, and the Fightin' Rat Pack Wing of the GOP)
To: ctdonath2
Thats absolutely correct. This virus isnt going away.
And neither will the suicides.
Poverty.
Drug addiction and overdoses.
And a whole host of other collateral damage that will make this virus seem mild by comparison.
There has to be a middle ground between destruction and denial.
To: SeekAndFind
As the HIV virus has been here for forty years and more spent on HIV research tha. Any other virus in our history, and as there is still no vaccine, I propose holding our breaths till it arrives may not be wise.
Its moronic.
12
posted on
04/17/2020 8:27:44 AM PDT
by
American in Israel
(A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
To: SeekAndFind
“Its worth noting that Governors in Japan dont have the same police powers to keep people home as Governors in America.”
False.
Governors in America can only keep us at home while we percieve it is in our own interest.
After that, all bets are off. There are still enough of us with a load of FU in our veins.
13
posted on
04/17/2020 8:27:53 AM PDT
by
Uncle Miltie
(BOYCOTT CHINA! - spread the word....)
To: SeekAndFind
A ‘state of emergency’ is not a lock down... Businesses continue on, restaurants and bars stay open... And life goes on with the advice to social distance and to wear mask... It is against the law in Japan to force businesses to close.
Regardless... 125 million people in a very congested area and the death totals so far for Japan... 190 deaths.
They aren’t going to turn into New York City anytime soon, or ever for that matter.
New York City... 8.4 million... 11,447 deaths.
Japan... No lock downs and a minuscule amount of deaths... New York... Lock downs and a multitude of death.
They wear mask and prevented air travel... They won, the world lost. The flu happens in winter because we are stuck indoors due to bad weather and all the hoping and praying by the leftist media for Japan and Sweden to turn into Corona Chinese Italian Covid-19 death locations central will never happen.
14
posted on
04/17/2020 8:39:23 AM PDT
by
jerod
(Nazi's were essentially Socialist in Hugo Boss uniforms... Get over it!)
To: ctdonath2
Could it be that the virus in not gone because countries keep allowing infectious Chinese nationals in?
15
posted on
04/17/2020 8:41:29 AM PDT
by
mewzilla
(Break out the mustard seeds.)
To: SeekAndFind
Even if we get a vaccine against COVID-19, there could be a COVID-20. We know there are many other communicable diseases out there as well.
Let's face it, we can never go out again. It just isn't completely safe.
16
posted on
04/17/2020 8:44:14 AM PDT
by
BeauBo
To: SeekAndFind
A neighbor was in Japan a few weeks ago - said he was working on "the ship" there. He didn't say what the ship was, but he specializes in helping control "situations" so it was probably in relation to the virus.
He said restaurants and bars were open and things seemed pretty normal, then he had to quarantine for 2 weeks in the Houston area.
It would seem that while maintaining the draconian measure may not be necessary, it is also important for folks to do what they canto minimize their own risks.
As a dear, departed friend, who was in the Africa campaign during WWII used to say, "It takes eternal vigilance"...
The bright side is that my friend had some extra N95 masks ...
17
posted on
04/17/2020 9:20:58 AM PDT
by
trebb
(Don't howl about illegal leeches, or Trump in general, while not donating to FR - it's hypocritical.)
To: SeekAndFind
International travel, by Japanese and non-Japanese, to Japan and from Japan and back. More and more strict Wuhan virus testing at port’s of entry.
18
posted on
04/17/2020 11:27:53 AM PDT
by
Wuli
To: SeekAndFind
International travel, by Japanese and non-Japanese, to Japan and from Japan and back. More and more strict Wuhan virus testing at port’s of entry.
A son of a nephew of mine is working in Japan. He recently obtained a new job that is in a small village (2,000 people) outside of small town (10,000 people) about an hour from a larger city (Nagano). He has moved for the job but not actually started the job yet.
The town and the village both have Wuhan virus rules of their own. Newcomers - Japanese and non-Japanese - taking a job or residence must automatically self-quarantine for 14 days during which they will be tested at the end of each of the two weeks. Those are those towns’ rules. Not “national” rules. Other towns, cities and counties have their rules.
19
posted on
04/17/2020 11:41:23 AM PDT
by
Wuli
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