In today’s video we will break down the fact that even though Japan is now topping
world rankings when it comes to covid cases, things are seemingly quite positive.
Japan continues to approach this wave differently, but will this lead to positive news?
How long will we need to wait?
Watch all the way to the end so that you can be better informed!
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Many of us continue to wait for Japan to reopen her borders fully, either for independent
tourism or simply hoping for an easier entry process.
We’ve waited and continue to wait mostly patiently.
But as I’ve been mentioning more recently, as Japan reports record case numbers, now
topping the worlds rankings (something we will look at in this video, so keep on watching)
it’s probably most important now more than ever to look at these case numbers and hopefully
see the start of the dip in the wave that will also hopefully lead to potential good
news for everyone.
So, on that note, let’s start off by getting into the nitty gritty.
As from July 29th, 62.8% of the population have now received their third dose.
And crusially for Japan’s aging population 90.3% of those aged 65 years or older have
now received their booster shot too.
In fact 10,269,271,(4th) doses have also been administered that’s 3,806,652 additional
doses compared to the last update, demonstrating a week on week increase in the number of 4th
shots administered.
And most importantly 23.1% of those aged 65 or over have now received their 4th shot too,
which is an 8.5% increase compared to last week.
As from 29th July, Tokyo’s hospital occupancy now stands at 53.3% of standard covid beds
in use.
This is a 5.9% increase compared to last week’s update, and although an increase it’s less
of an increase compared to last week.
And, in terms of severe patients there are 114 in the capital, equalling to 27.1% of
the 420 beds set aside for these patients in Tokyo.
So, team, were going to look at cases in Japan, and I just wanted to remind you that I’m
no expert.
I’ll be relying on the readily available information, I simply put everything together
in an easy to follow video so that hopefully YOU can make informed decisions, and this
is just my interpretation of the data.
Cases continue to rise; Tokyo actually reported a new record of 40,406 new cases on Thursday
however its important to note that the record number included around 5,000 to 6,000 cases
from Wednesday that could not be logged due to a system error.
Cases on Friday actually fell to 36,814.
And nationwide just over 230,000 cases were reported, setting a record high for the second
day in a row.
And across Japan, eighteen prefectures also recorded record numbers too.
whilst new deaths linked to the virus came to 114, this is the third day in a row topping
100 deaths.
In fact, Japan is now leading world rankings when it comes to covid cases.
With Japan reporting nearly 200,000 cases a day, which is currently more than any other
country in the world.
Positively the Japanese government continues to not impose any serious restrictions, although
some prefectures are putting in place their own rules, for example; in Osaka prefecture,
local authorities have raised the virus alert to the highest level which asks people, especially
the elderly, to refrain from non-essential travel and gatherings.
Positively it seems that that the current BA.5 variant which is currently the main culprit
of infections is believed to be milder than previous variants, and although the number
of hospitalizations in the country have continued to rise at a steady rate, ICU occupancy remains
low in comparison Team, Prime minister Kishida said on Friday
that the government still continues to have no plans to impose restrictions on people's
movements even though the country is going through record infections.
The fact that Japan now leads world-wide infection rates yet the government’s approach is starting
to come in line with what other countries have done in the past is a great indicator
indeed.
"We will put the system we have in place into full operation to move forward with social
and economic activities," Kishida said in an interview on Friday.
A framework to enable prefectural governments to issue requests to slow down the spread
of infections in their area has been created by the government.
This will mainly be aimed at the elderly and those at high risk, with prefectural governments
being able to urge these residents to stay home for example and also encourage companies
to promote working from home.
Team, it’s clear that Japan’s wave is pretty huge and although it is not exactly
known when this wave will peak.
A team led by a professor at the Nagoya Institute of Technology, has estimated that the current
wave would peak around Aug. 6th in Tokyo "The reason for this is that, unlike last
year, we are not seeing a decrease in the number of people out and about despite an
increase in infections,"...
..."Cases may remain high as the vaccine's efficacy among the working-age population
is declining."
Hirata, a professor at Nagoya institute of Technology said.
It’s interesting to look at the “Our world in Data” website and the Tokyo metropolitan
stats website to get a good comparison of how this wave is actually affecting Japan.
Like I mentioned earlier, I’m no expert but its promising to see anyway that this
current wave although huge is producing less hospitalisations than previous waves.
This is likely the reason for less panic in Japan although obviously understandably it’s
still important to keep things in control so that hospitals do not become overrun.
So, let’s check out some graphs showing exactly what happening.
Indicator 1 shows Daily new positive cases, and it’s clear from this, that this current
wave is quite a bit bigger than previous ones.
However, the promising thing is that indicator 6 shows Patients that have been hospitalised,
and this number remains slightly below the previous wave regardless of many more current
infections.
And even more promising is the fact that indicator 7 clearly shows, how even though the numbers
of infected is huge, severe hospitalisations continue much lower than previous waves.
It will certainly be interesting to see if infections do peak around the first week of
August.
What are your thoughts on this team?
I’d love to read your thoughts in the comment section.
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Philippe VH
So there’s been talk of treating covid like seasonal influenzas for quite some time, in
fact this topic was highlighted back in January when the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signaled
their support for downgrading the legal status of the virus in Japan.
and it finally seems that a government advisory body will be looking at the possibility of
recommending Covid be treated like the flu, in order to ease disruptions to the countries
health service.
In Japan, diseases are put into five categories, depending on the degree of danger and other
factors.
Currently Covid has been asassigning the strictest reporting requirement, with public funding
for treatment and other measures.
However, redefining the virus to category 5; which is the same level as seasonal influenza,
would mean no longer reporting of case numbers but at the same time public funding of treatment
would no longer be available, so this would become a financial burden on individual patients.
On July 14, the panel on COVID measures suggested "to start considering designating COVID-19
as one of many diseases."
However, this will happen “once infection numbers are clearly decreasing”.
With one proposal being to keep public funding for COVID care, something that is currently
not available under the current category 5 designation.
Team, once again its clear that most actions will come “once infection numbers are clearly
decreasing”.
Treating Covid more like influensa might be a step forward?
Like I said, I’m no expert but I’d like to know your thoughts in the comment section.
It’s always been said that Japan has had strict border controls to delay the virus’s
spread or protect the people of Japan.
Back in May Kishida made the infamous “Japan will introduce a smoother entry process similar
to that of other G7 members” which got many people, including myself very excited.
And Kishida also boasted about how well the country had done to keep covid out saying:
“At the end of last year, Japan strengthened its border control measures in response to
the global spread of the Omicron variant.
It was an essential public-health step to delay the variant’s entry into the country.
This allowed us to fortify our healthcare system and promote vaccinations.
I hope it is not too boastful to say that Japan’s response to COVID-19 has been one
of the most successful in the world.”
Yes, I have always agreed that each country must protect their citizens and although frustrating,
I understood that whilst case numbers remained low in Japan it was understandable that Japan
would want to slow down the virus and strengthen their healthcare system.
However now that Japan’s cases are leading the rest of the world, that argument can no
longer be used.
I do understand that things will need to peak but it’s clear now more than ever that the
threat of covid is not from other countries.
In fact a friend from Germany travelled to Japan on business two weeks ago and returned
with Covid!
So, Japan.
When case numbers do start falling what will your next move be?
Does the fact that Case numbers are lower in other countries mean anything?
Hopefully we will hear something soon.
What are your thoughts team?
Do you think that the fact that things will hopefully peak soon will mean a reopening
shortly after?
Your country likely is less of a threat of covid now more than ever, is this a good thing?
I’d love to know in the comment section!
And if you’ve been watching this far, I like to play a little game..
Prove it by posting a 🍣 sushi emoji!
Even if you have nothing to say!
As always, I look forward to reading your thoughts and questions in the comment section
and hopefully seeing you in the chat section of a future live stream where we not only
discuss Japan’s border situation but also talk about Japan related topics too!
So, if you do see a scheduled stream, make sure you click the ‘Notify me button’
so that you can join in without forgetting!
Anyway Team, Stay positive (but covid negative).
I might not have all the answers but hopefully you’re a little more informed!
Till next time, Arigatou, gracias, thanks bye!