Are Japan's new COVID laws hurting its'
citizens? Well,
some Japanese citizens argue that the
government's new COVID laws are
overreaching
and violate private rights while others
complain that the government is not
doing enough to protect its citizens
from the spread. Which has led to far
more infections. So in this video, I want
to share with you what's been going on
here in Japan for the last month or so
and you can let me know what you think
about it
in the comments. Specifically, you can let
me know which ones you agree with and
which ones you don't. But, like always
if you want to help out
with the channel,
check out the Japan merch. If you guys
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you have any questions about Japan or
your Japan travels
check out the Discord community. Alright
let's get started.
How we got here, first of all, let me
catch you up, Japan declared its second
state of emergency in january
including Tokyo and its neighboring
prefectures. The same day that Tokyo
reported a record 2,447 cases in one day
with a goal to curb the spread of
infection. It was later expanded to a
total of 11 prefectures
including Osaka, Kyoto, and
Fukuoka. It was
initially expected to end
February 7th, but just recently it was
extended to March
7th. Which means that here in Tokyo we're
still in a state of emergency. So what
does the state of emergency mean? To
residents living here in Tokyo
and other related areas. The new law.
Basically, the government requested that
business hours for restaurants, bars,
cafes, karaokes, and such
be limited to 8 PM. With alcohol being
served only between 11 am and 7 pm.
Also, any events held were to be limited
to half the venue capacity or
max 5,000 people whichever was less. Again
finishing
no later than 8 pm. Finally,
the government
requested that companies have 70%
or more of the staff working from home.
But, in the last couple months
being on the ground here in Tokyo, you
could see that most restaurants and bars
cooperated. While many companies
still had more than 70 percent of their
workforce in the office. This is because
Japanese law didn't have any means to
enforce these restrictions.
In other words, all of these restrictions
relied on voluntary cooperation
by businesses and individuals. Well that
was true until last week.
Now the national diet passed two bills
that allow authorities to place
financial penalties
during a state of emergency on
businesses who refuse local government
orders to reduce business hours
and on individuals who refuse to be
tested or hospitalized. We'll get more
into this in just a little bit.
infections Rise. Remember that go-to
travel program that I mentioned
last October where the Japanese
government literally paid
people to travel all throughout Japan.
Well, that initiative was suspended after
a few months
this last December, as there was a huge
increase in reported cases
all throughout Japan. So here's a graph
of reported cases in Japan over the last
few months,
and here's when the go to travel program
was initiated
and then when it was suspended. Hmm, makes
you kind of wonder
In fact it confused a lot of people in
Japan since it was a government who
encouraged people to travel
and only a few months later suspended
the program because of increased
infections which eventually led to the
current state of emergency:
Testing and Reporting. And on top of all
this, many critics argue that Japan is
not testing enough.
Currently, it's about 43,000 tests per
day and therefore it's assumed that the
total number of reported cases
is far lower than the actual number. And
speaking of
actual numbers, it was recently brought
to light that the government's contract
tracing app for Android called Kokoa
hadn't been sending information to its
users when a user came in contact with
an infected person since September 28th
of last year. Apparently, Android users
make up about thirty percent
of the app's downloads. I guess that's
maybe one point for Apple users? Before I
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description that all said let's continue
on foreigners entering Japan
on a different note, Japan has suspended
entry of all non-resident foreigners
into Japan.
so for now if you are planning on coming
to Japan the earliest maybe would be on
March 7th if the restrictions are lifted
but even then with the situations ever
changing I wouldn't book my ticket
just yet. as for foreign residents
entering the country they will be
required to sign a pledge upon entry
stating that they will stay in a 14-day
quarantine
after arrival and any pointers who
breach the 14-day self-isolation period
will get their resident status or broke
and may be deported they've even
considered
naming the violators to the public this
is apparently in response to a man
violating his 14-day quarantine after
returning from britain
just to eat out with multiple people
which led to the spread of a new strain
of the virus
here in japan the details under the new
law the authorities can officially
demand
anyone entering the country to
quarantine for 14 days
and anyone who refuses will be forced to
go to a special quarantine facility
oh and during the state of emergency or
even stage 3 alert businesses refusing
to shorten their business hours or
refusing to shut down for a set period
of time
face a 300 000 yen fine about 2 800
and under the new infectious disease law
infected persons refusing
hospitalization
can be fined up to five hundred thousand
yen about forty seven hundred dollars
and refusing to work with the government
to trace an infection will land the
violator a twenty eight hundred dollar
fine
financial aid it's not all punitive the
government has introduced
financial aid policies to help support
all the new restrictions
households who have a decreased income
as a result of COVID-19
can receive an interest-free loan of
200,000 yen
about $1,900 and for households the two or
more people who have become
unemployed can receive an interest-free
loan of about nineteen hundred dollars
per month for up to three months while
individuals can receive about fourteen
hundred dollars per month for three
months
in terms of housing if you've either
lost your job or have a reduced income
the government will grant you
three months of rent and up to 12 months
if conditions are met at least these
funds
don't need to be paid back and for
businesses who maintained employment
despite a drop in sales the government
will subsidize employment allowances up
to 15,000 yen
about 142 per employee per day finally
for the restaurants and bars who have
complied and shut down by 8 pm
the government provides a flat subsidy
of about 570 us dollars a day
i don't know though what do you think of
that subsidy do you think it's enough
vaccinations that all said japan's goal
like many other countries is to
vaccinate its residents starting from
mid february 10 000 medical workers are
scheduled to be vaccinated
by mid-march 3 million workers and then
in early april
regular residents over the age of 65
will start receiving the vaccination
after that there'll be a wider rollout
giving priority to people with
underlying health conditions
it's crazy to think though that
countries like the uk have already
vaccinated
10 plus million people as far as the
Tokyo Olympics are concerned it's still
officially scheduled for this summer
as the Japanese government and the IOC
are pushing hard for it to happen
personally I'm a bit skeptical given the
logistics of flying everyone from around
the world
to Tokyo safely it kind of sounds like a
mitsu situation to me
but only time will tell. interestingly
the IOC has stated that when the Tokyo
Olympics are held in 2021
it will still be called the 2020 games
i'm sure a lot of printing companies are
devastated by the news well that's it
for now if you guys agree or disagree
with japanese laws policies
let me know in the comments if you guys
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