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COVID-19 Coronavirus: situation in Japan

I haven't seen any official stats on the boosters yet. I will certainly add them once more data becomes available.

I am not worried either, but it is evident that infections are again increasing. I might start adding prefecture-specific data soon.
Numbers across the world are insane. Infection rates in NYC have gone up 10x in 3-4 weeks. One out of every 50 people in Manhattan contracted Covid just within the past week. In other words, I suggest getting the booster as soon as you can.
 
Japan logged over 500 new infections yesterday. With the New Year holiday travel season in full swing, we have to brace for a new wave here, too.



 
What is JR East and West doing with routes? If they are trying to stop they would be boosting services to allow people to separate but I think they are jamming them harder together than ever.
 
Tokyo reported over 103 infections today, Osaka 79. Nationwide 668 new cases were reported.

No wonder: omairi in Kawasaki.

omairi.jpg


It seems the US bases contribute a lot to the daily count.

The latest figure was 68 more than the tally for the previous Monday, and it brought the daily average of new cases over the week through Jan. 3 to 75.7, an increase of 96.1 percent from the average for the week earlier, according to officials. Osaka Prefecture logged 79 new cases on Jan. 3, the seventh straight day for the daily count to top 50. The patients included 19 students and teachers at the public Kitano High School in Osaka city. In Yamaguchi Prefecture, 56 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed on Jan. 3, prefectural officials said, adding that community infections appear to be spreading. Forty-four of the new patients live in Iwakuni, home to a U.S. military base.


 
Shot 1 of the " vaccines " were never vaccines in first place rather immunity boosters.

That's exactly what a vaccine is. 🙃

A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as a threat, destroy it, and to further recognize and destroy any of the microorganisms associated with that agent that it may encounter in the future. Vaccines can be prophylactic (to prevent or ameliorate the effects of a future infection by a natural or "wild" pathogen), or therapeutic (to fight a disease that has already occurred, such as cancer). Some vaccines offer full sterilizing immunity, in which infection is prevented completely.
Source

Hopefully, what we see is just an oshogatsu spike and not the beginning of another wave: 225 cases in Okinawa, 151 in Tokyo, 79 in Yamaguchi, 1,268 nationwide. With the cases on the U.S. bases in Okinawa (164), Okinawa amounts to 389. The Okinawa governor blasted the U.S. military.


 
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Weekly updates (29 Dec 2021 - 04 Jan 2022):


Nationwide infections:

29/12 (Wed)30/12 (Thu)31/12 (Fri)01/01 (Sat)02/01 (Son)03/01 (Mon)04/01 (Tue)
501 (+ 239)
516 (+ 221)
510 (+ 208)
535 (+ 213)
554 (+ 291)
782 (+ 568)
1,268 (+ 881)

Nationwide deaths:

29/12 (Wed)30/12 (Thu)31/12 (Fri)01/01 (Sat)02/01 (Son)03/01 (Mon)04/01 (Tue)
4 (+ 2)
0 (- 2)
0 (± 0)​
0 (- 1)
2 (+ 2)
1 (+ 1)
1 (- 1)

Nationwide Seriously Ill:

29/12 (Wed)30/12 (Thu)31/12 (Fri)01/01 (Sat)02/01 (Son)03/01 (Mon)04/01 (Tue)
49 (+ 23)
46 (+ 18)
49 (+ 15)
51 (+ 14)
53 (+ 15)
52 (+ 8)
54 (+ 8)


Vaccinations as of 04 January 2022:

201m (+ 2m); fully vaccinated: 99.4m (+ 0.8m) = 79.0% of population

 
Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki is considering asking the central government to declare pre-emergency measures to stem the latest surge in novel coronavirus infections in the prefecture. Tamaki believes the sixth wave of COVID-19 has already hit Okinawa Prefecture. Today, Okinawa reported 623 new cases, Tokyo 390.

The Okinawan prefectural government on Wednesday reported 623 new coronavirus cases, the highest number in the island prefecture since Aug 28 last year, and more than double Tuesday's number. The prefecture has seen an explosive rise in cases due to the Omicron variant, health officials said. Up until Dec 20, the prefecture was reporting less than 10 new cases a day. Local media reported that the Okinawan government is preparing to ask the central government in Tokyo to declare a quasi state of emergency for the prefecture ahead of the three-day weekend which includes Coming-of-Age Day on Monday. In Tokyo, the number of reported infections was 390, more than double Tuesday's 151, and 314 more than last Wednesday.


 
Have they reported the number of cases on the US bases in Okinawa?

The failure of the US forces to cooperate with Japanese health authorities has resulted in quite a negative media backlash.

 
Okinawa is sure picking up in infections. I'd expect cases in the thousands soon after this report of 600~.
You are most likely right.
In the beginning I posted like 5000 cases a day will be showing up. In fact that truth did come true.
But now as I read this morning there are 3 parts to the new virus going around.
I think our best protection is a healthy diet. Of course, those that wish to be vaccinated should be getting their 4th vax possibly by April or May, as that seems to be what is being talked about.
Regardless, I'm hopping to see more of Japan this year.
 
Quite unusual for a Japanese Foreign Minister to ask a US Secretary of State to impose a curfew on US bases. :LOL:

Okinawa: 981 cases; Tokyo: 641.


 
That doesn't bode well: 1,414 new infections in Okinawa, 922 in Tokyo (just 281 yesterday). However, the number of severe cases and Covid-19-related deaths remains low.


"Quasi emergencies" were declared in Okinawa, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi effective from Sunday to 31 January.


The USAF bases in Yokota, Atsugi, and Misawa appear to handle things better. ;)
 
Not sure about bases in Japan today , but when I was in Fukuoka we had 9 to 12 guys jammed in the same small room together. Great for spreading germs.
 
Japan will extend the entry ban on non-resident foreigners until the end of February. Returning Japanese nationals, as well as foreign residents, will be required to quarantine in government-designated facilities. The quota of daily arrivals is limited to 3,500.




And some good news, I guess: 90% of all omicron cases in Okinawa are mild or asymptomatic.

The variant, spreading in many parts of Japan, "is highly transmissible but tends not to result in severe symptoms," according to the analysis. So far, studies have shown that the tendency of symptoms among omicron carriers in Japan matches that reported by other countries dealing with the new variant. In Okinawa, the number of suspected omicron cases made up 73% of all new coronavirus cases found in the week to Jan. 2, suggesting that the omicron variant is increasingly replacing the delta variant in the prefecture. The share stood at 34% in Tokyo and 60% in Osaka Prefecture. Of 675 omicron carriers in Okinawa as of Jan. 4, 92.3% had no or mild symptoms, 7.7% had moderate symptoms, and there were no severely ill patients in need of a ventilator or other special equipment, according to a report submitted to an expert panel of the health ministry. As of July 18 last year, the percentage stood at 72.8% for cases with no or moderate symptoms and 26.2% for cases with moderate symptoms. A detailed study of symptoms of 50 people with the omicron variant diagnosed by Jan. 1 this year found that 72% of them developed a fever of 37.5 degrees Celsius or higher. Coughing was seen in 58%, and fatigue in 50%. Meanwhile, only 2% developed taste and smell disorders, major symptoms among patients with other variants.

 
The weekly updates (05-11 January 2022). I have added a few prefectures to show local trends.


Nationwide infections:

05/01 (Wed)06/01 (Thu)07/01 (Fri)08/01 (Sat)09/01 (Son)10/01 (Mon)11/01 (Tue)
2,491 (+ 1,990)
4,475 (+ 3,959)
6,214 (+ 5,704)
8,311 (+ 7,776)
8,078 (+ 7,524)
6,438 (+ 5,656)
6,239 (+ 4,971)

Nationwide deaths:

05/01 (Wed)06/01 (Thu)07/01 (Fri)08/01 (Sat)09/01 (Son)10/01 (Mon)11/01 (Tue)
1 (- 3)
1 (+ 1)
1 (+ 1)
2 (+ 2)
1 (- 1)
2 (+ 1)
2 (+ 1)

Nationwide Seriously Ill:

05/01 (Wed)06/01 (Thu)07/01 (Fri)08/01 (Sat)09/01 (Son)10/01 (Mon)11/01 (Tue)
60 (+ 11)
64 (+ 18)
91 (+ 42)
89 (+ 38)
90 (+ 37)
90 (+ 38)
100 (+ 46)

SELECTED PREFECTURES:

Tokyo:


05/01 (Wed)06/01 (Thu)07/01 (Fri)08/01 (Sat)09/01 (Son)10/01 (Mon)11/01 (Tue)
390 (+ 314)
641 (+ 577)
922 (+ 844)
1,224 (+ 1,145)
1,223 (+ 1,139)
871 (+ 768)
962 (+ 811)

Okinawa:

05/01 (Wed)06/01 (Thu)07/01 (Fri)08/01 (Sat)09/01 (Son)10/01 (Mon)11/01 (Tue)
623 (+ 596)
981 (+ 931)
1,414 (+ 1,370)
1,759 (+ 1,707)
1,533 (+ 1,482)
779 (+ 649)
775 (+ 556)

Osaka:

05/01 (Wed)06/01 (Thu)07/01 (Fri)08/01 (Sat)09/01 (Son)10/01 (Mon)11/01 (Tue)
244 (+ 183)
505 (+ 453)
676 (+ 598)
891 (+ 821)
880 (+ 823)
449 (+ 420)
613 (+ 489)

Hokkaido:

05/01 (Wed)06/01 (Thu)07/01 (Fri)08/01 (Sat)09/01 (Son)10/01 (Mon)11/01 (Tue)
34 (+ 8)
74 (+ 42)
94 (+ 73)
132 (+ 109)
117​
106​
117 (+ 91)

Hiroshima:

05/01 (Wed)06/01 (Thu)07/01 (Fri)08/01 (Sat)09/01 (Son)10/01 (Mon)11/01 (Tue)
138​
273​
429 (+ 406)
547 (+ 526)
619 (+ 561)
672 (+ 623)
588 (+ 479)


Vaccinations as of 10 January 2022:

201m; fully vaccinated: 99.4m = 79.0% of population

 
According to Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Shigeyuki Goto, COVID-19 booster shots for Japan's general public will start sooner than initially planned due to the surge in Omicron cases.

The government will shorten by one month the interval between the second and third vaccination shots for people aged 18 to 64 from the current eight months, and by one month for those over 64 to six months in principle, Shigeyuki Goto told reporters. The change is likely to present municipal governments, which are responsible for carrying out the inoculation drive, with the daunting task of executing it, however, including sending out vaccine tickets to residents in a timely manner. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on a TV program on Thursday that the government will strive to shorten the booster shot interval for people aged 18 to 64 by another month to six months, if at all possible.

 
"You don't get herd immunity with coronaviruses." Interesting read.
 
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