Tokyo – Like Tokyo 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 start of the pandemic. The latest viral wave – with nearly 1,000 new cases in Tokyo on Thursday – is fueled by winter temperatures prompting people to gather indoors, and exacerbated by government efforts to restart economic activity with a now-halted domestic promotion campaign. tourism.
The most recent state of emergency (SOE) declaration is very targeted, covering only Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures, which account for half of Japan’s coronavirus cases. Urbanized western and central Japan can be added to the order later.
The new rules
The SOE restrictions are mainly aimed at the food industry this time.
ISSEI KATO / REUTERS
“Eating and chatting is the most risky thing,” Dr. Koji Wada, a public health expert who advises the government on its coronavirus response, told CBS News. Bars and restaurants will be asked to close at 8pm for the duration of the SOE, which currently runs through Feb. 7.
Dining establishments are entitled to grants of up to about $ 600. Businesses that fail to comply can be publicly mentioned and shamed.
Residents in affected areas will be asked to avoid all non-essential forays and work from home if possible.
Schools have been exempt from the SOE this time, and internet cafes, gyms and even karaoke studios – which have remained relatively COVID-free in recent months, apparently thanks to ventilation, hygiene upgrades and more conscientiousness among customers – will be allowed to remain open, albeit with shorter hours. Digital carbon dioxide sensors, which can measure how well rooms are being ventilated, are selling fast.
There is widespread support for the restrictions in Japan. Separate online polls, conducted Jan. 6 by Japan Trend Research and Yahoo Japan, showed that between 72% and 80% of respondents were in favor of the latest state-owned company, with less than 10% against.
Japan’s sentiment of crisis may seem difficult to fathom in the US, where the impact of the pandemic is of one different order of magnitude – so far Japan has only contracted about 1% of infections and deaths as the US. But the spike in cases is already overwhelming Japan’s healthcare infrastructure.
“In some areas, the medical system is already collapsing,” said Dr. Wada. “Other patients – ischemic [stroke] and cancer cases – struggling to find treatment. ”
Too little too late?
It’s incredible that Japan, a country with a third of the US population, has about the same number of hospital beds. However, according to the Nikkei business newspaper, authorities had been lulled by Japan’s success in fighting infections last year and had failed to adequately prepare for the winter wave of patients.
Kiyoshi Ota / Getty
Tokyo has announced that it will add 500 additional hospital beds specifically to treat COVID-19 patients, and the city will rent an additional hotel for mild and asymptomatic cases.
Prime Minister Suga’s popularity has waned amid allegations 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 fix this wave.”
Hiroshi Nishiura, an expert in computer modeling of infectious diseases, released a projection showing that unless Japan wider restrictions used to greatly reduce human contact last spring – and unless that shutdown continues for two months – cases will level off but remain at a high level, over 1,000 a day.
Olympic dreams
Only six months before the scheduled start of the delayed Olympic Games in TokyoThe new SOE has raised further doubts as to whether the Games can be held at all without triggering another wave of infections.
There are also concerns about whether a level international playing field is possible, given the wide gap in time in which different countries are expected to receive vaccines.