Japan backsliding
Japan’s backsliding comes after months of relatively successful control of the coronavirus. It eschewed hard lockdowns for a cluster-based containment approach and broadcast warnings early on that enclosed, poorly ventilated spaces should be avoided. So far, nationwide cumulative cases remain under 200,000 and fatalities below 3,000—resulting in rates many times below those in the U.S. and Europe. This is despite the fact that Japan has one of the highest proportions of vulnerable elderly people in the world, and its coronavirus countermeasures have, in most cases, been mild.
Businesses have faced requests, not orders, to curtail their operating hours and schools were only closed temporarily in spring when a state of emergency was in place. Some critics in the medical community have said it’s not enough.
“There’s a lack of leadership by both local and central governments,” says Kentaro Iwata, an infectious disease specialist at Kobe University who drew headlines in February after slamming quarantine conditions on the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama. “They do not consider COVID-19 a serious threat to the nation. There are also too many and too large clusters that the Japanese public health system cannot pursue and catch. This is useful only when clusters are small and not that many.”
Japanese politicians lack scientific literacy, says Iwata, citing the fact that asymptomatic carriers of the virus could have unwittingly spread it while participating in the Go To Travel campaign, which offered subsidies for domestic travel and hotel stays. While there has been limited anecdotal evidence of the campaign abetting virus transmission—for instance, locals on remote Rishiri Island off Hokkaido blamed Go To Travel for a cluster of 10 infections in November— even before it was suspended, the government was considering excluding Tokyo, which has logged the most infections. A similar national campaign offering discounts for restaurant patrons was partially suspended in late November.
In Japan, the government remains the biggest influencer of public behavior. Leaders such as Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike are facing renewed calls to do more to communicate the urgency of flattening the curve as the capital’s medical system comes under severe strain. With three months to go before the possible start of vaccinations in March, this winter may be devastating for Japan.
“People in Japan want the authority of the government to send a clear message, but it sends contradictory messages,” says Norichika Horie, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Center for Death and Life Studies and Practical Ethics. “Therefore, people try to act like those close to them. They think that it is a loss if they are the only ones who miss out when everyone else is going out with GoTo Travel. It’s like the joke, ‘If everyone crosses on a red light, there is nothing to be afraid of.’ But COVID-19 will take more lives of the vulnerable. The sin of the high-risk behavior is serious. We should have stopped at the red light.”
发表回复