Okay
so here we are
I am back again at home with another video
I just put Wolfy to sleep
He should be sleeping for a few moments
While I can give you guys an update
of kind of what's happened since the last week
I don't know what it is
I feel like the Youtube Gods are playing with me right now
But you know what can you do
As many of you know from last week Wolfy got sick
Luckily he did recover after that
His fever went down and he was able to go back to Nursery
But here's a twist
Just after that we were notified by school
that someone at his nursery got COVID
and anyone in close contact
or in the same room with that person needs to quarantine
And that's why we are here today !
We are quarantining with Wolfy
Again
Obviously, because of the quarantine rules
he can't be around babysitters
and we have no family around that can help
So Maiko and I have to take care of our son
during this forced quarantine
and shut down our production
[Music]
sorry it's kind of getting hot in here
This week's upload schedule has changed
I won't be able to upload one of my
larger collaboration videos because
I will be taking care of Wolfy
As I mentioned before Maiko and I are
already on a pretty tight schedule
So if we want to even take one day off
It delays our production by week
if not more
I really don't know what to say
it's just it is what it is
So while we're here I kind of want to just share
what's been on my mind and kind of give you
some information on how COVID and
quarantining is handled here in Japan
Basically because well I'm in it right now
and I can't really do any other filmings
and you know this is our second time
with Wolfy having to go through it
I am interested though in how all of this compares to your country
What your thoughts are so just definitely let me know
What you think of any of this in the comments
I do have a little bit of a list
so I'll let you enjoy some of the quarantine footage
while I go through it
1. Quarantine Duration
First of all, In Japan
If you're exposed to COVID
like being in the classroom with someone who has COVID
Then you're required to quarantine for seven days at home
Even if you're fully vaccinated
or you've tested negative or have no symptoms
You still need to stay home
So basically Wolfy has to quarantine for seven days at home
while his nursery also has to shutdown
Naturally this means that
Maiko and I will be quarantining as well
Again it's not so bad
because we do love spending time with Wolfy
But it just means that we can't do the usual work that we do
and it also means we're gonna need to be super creative with activities
as we're in the house for 24 hours a day
whether we like it or not
But when the seven days are up
all three of us can leave the house
Japan doesn't require PCR tests or any other like
similar tests because we don't have any symptoms
2. House Quarantine
The Japanese Government namely the
Tokyo Welfare Health Station recommends that
If you're quarantining at home
That you wear a mask the entire time
If you're living with someone else
avoid sharing daily use items and sanitize public areas frequently
In our case Maiko and I are fully vaccinated and healthy
so we're not so worried about ourselves
But just to be extra careful for others
We've just decided to stay home the entire time with Wolfy
We usually buy groceries on Amazon Fresh
and sometimes use UberEats when we don't want to cook
so it's not challenging for us to stay home in terms of supplies
However the most challenging part is that
We can't take Wolfy outside
He's only one but he has so much energy
Locking a little boy like this inside of the house
for an entire week especially in a small
apartment like ours just doesn't seem right
But again what can I really say
It is what it is and I just really feel for
those families that are just in a
smaller apartment this because it is
just so hard to be able to quarantine in
such a small space
3. The Government Tracking System
So this one is really not related to our specific situation
but it is on my mind
and I wanted to mention it
Because I've had friends who after taking the PCR test
and finding out they are positive for COVID
were shortly contacted by the Japanese Government
namely the Hokenjo "Health Care Center"
They all received an SMS text message requesting that they
register to the government HER-SYS website
Healthcare Center Real-Time Information Sharing System
Apparently all their personal information was sent
to the government as soon as they got that positive result
The HER-SYS Website basically tracks infected people in Japan
by asking them to enter their health information every day
and the entire system is not anonymous
Before everyone in Japan who got COVID
was contacted regularly by phone call
by the Japanese Government Healthcare Center
but since a number of cases are peaking
these days the government doesn't have
enough staff to contact everyone infected
so they switch to this online system
to track the health conditions of each infected person
What do you guys think ?
Do you guys have a system like this in your country ?
or if you don't have a system like this
How do you feel about having a system like this ?
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4. Kids Wearing Masks
One thing that I wanted to address is
Wolfy not wearing a mask
because some people in the comments
have questioned or asked why isn't Wolfy wearing a mask
ever since he's been born
First of all he's only one year and nine months old right now
and even younger based on some of
the comments when they were made
Kids this age and younger aren't able to wear
masks properly and some even have
trouble breathing with it
Interestingly, the World Health Organization says
Kids under 5 don't have to wear masks
While the Japanese Government has previously
said that kids over 2 years old should wear a mask
But just recently the government has been a bit more vague
leaving the responsibility to each organization
Let me know what you guys think
Should kids be wearing masks
and if you think they should be wearing masks
at what age?
5. COVID Privacy
I'm assuming this is standard practice in most countries
But for sure in Japan
schools will never share the
identity of the infected person
whether it be the student or the teacher
which to me makes sense but I think this
privacy is even more important in Japan
Even today since there's still a large
and very present cultural stigma with contracting COVID
Despite all of the information out there today
in all of the infected cases
it's still considered for a lack of better words dirty in Japan
so much so that there's even a
subtle discrimination for testing positive for COVID in Japan
So this one is a little bit harder for me to explain
But let me get Maiko because
she might be able to explain it just a little bit better
Okay so I don't know if I can
explain this any better than Paolo but
I don't think people think being infected
is dirty like it's not like that but
I think one of the stereotypes of Japanese is
and
and of course not everybody's
and I'm just saying that we are
extra cautious when it comes to being sick or
protecting yourself from sickness
I think that's why a lot of Japanese
people who got COVID or their family got COVID
they don't tell that to anyone else
unless it's necessary
we care so much about what other people think
and you don't want to take the risk
of your friends talking something about you or
your friends act differently
I mean adults won't tell you in your face that
like I don't want to hang out with you
because you had a COVID or
I don't feel comfortable being around you
because you might carry something
nobody's gonna say that to you but some
people probably think that way
and I think especially for kids
they don't have any filters so that's probably why
if a child or a teacher get COVID
They don't announce who did because
They might you know bully that kid
They're trying their best to protect their students and teachers
and I think that's the right thing to do in Japan
I think that's enough explanation
so there you go
I couldn't explain that last part any better
but that's pretty much it for my COVID information for today
or atleast until Wolfy wakes up
We're hoping that everyone stays safe
I'll be back with our regular scheduled videos
hopefully next week and like always if you guys
want to see more videos like this or
anything related to Japan
hit that subscribe button and the bell button
we'll catch you guys in the next one
Wolfy, Good Morning !!
good morning