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COVID-19 Coronavirus: situation in Japan

Okay, I guess I've been confusing things. The trip sounds essential and short rather than something longer for casual recreation/cycling, which was my impression before.

If ya gotta go, then ya gotta go. I hope things work out okay however they may unfold. :cool:

It'd be wonderful to tour interior kyushu--maybe someday!
 
I wasn't for sure about this until yesterday.

International flights are currently available in Japan, but service continues to diminish. Only five percent of pre-COVID capacity between Japan and the United States (including Guam) remains in service. Direct flights between the United States and Japan are currently only available from Tokyo's Narita and Haneda airports. U.S. citizens who wish to return to the United States should make arrangements to do so via commercial air immediately unless they are prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period. The U.S. government does not anticipate staging repatriation flights in Japan. U.S. citizens who reside abroad should avoid all international travel. As a reminder, non-Japanese citizens who leave Japan, even U.S. citizen legal residents, will not be able to return under current restrictions.
 
I think that's several weeks or even month-old news. Over on reddit there was the situation of a foreign pilot for a japanese airline who was really cornered by this.

IIRC, if you left before April 3 you can get back in, if you left after that, no. Spouse, PR, whatever, makes no difference.
 
I think that's several weeks or even month-old news. Over on reddit there was the situation of a foreign pilot for a japanese airline who was really cornered by this.

IIRC, if you left before April 3 you can get back in, if you left after that, no. Spouse, PR, whatever, makes no difference.

I would have thought I would have been aware of this , but I must have over looked it.

The embassy is also telling us not to go to other prefectures also. Dang.
 
Update May 17, 2020 Sunday 10 pm Tokyo

I mention earlier on one of my post that I'd try to make my updates a bit more international and perhaps more on "what's happening in your front yard" type of post. The reason is because: Chinese updates are rare and Japanese updates are beginning not to be of much of interest these days to what is happening to the outside world. So if any of you have suggestion on how I should add more to my updates, just let me know.

1. Brazil's Health Ministry registered 14,919 new confirmed cases in the prior 24 hours, taking the total to 233,142, behind only the U.S., Russia and the U.K. Brazil has done just a fraction of the testing seen in those three countries.

2. This was one of my MIM's Street Talk on how this will become world-wide. Funny because I was kind of laughed at.


tk5ec13962.jpg



A law enforcement officer wearing the helmet could do any of the following: Measure the temperature of a specific individual; measure the temperatures of people passing by in larger crowds; scan a person's QR code for personal data; recognize license plates; spot people in the dark; or recognize people using facial recognition.

( I just want to say stay tune for MIM's June 12th "a day of awakening" coming. )

3. This is why I recommend not to go to bowling alleys or bars or even restaurants.
The South Korean government says the number of coronavirus cases linked to a cluster that originated in Seoul nightclubs has risen to 168. ( see people, the virus is so easy to catch while indoors )

4. The impact of the new coronavirus pandemic is likely to be hard on international air travel, with recovery only projected to come in 2024.
The International Air Transport Association, or IATA, released new analysis of air travel demand on Wednesday.
The association said that it expects overall passenger demand, both domestic and international, in 2021 to be 24 percent below 2019 levels. ( remember I said we will have 3 years of uncertainty, I guess my street talk was off , but then again it is over a month old, times do change quickly )

5. This was my Street Talk that I didn't share publicly with you folks on the forum, but I sent out a few PM's regarding this. The reason was, I didn't want to be known as one full of BS. But here it is now people, no longer MIM's Street Talk: The virus that causes COVID-19 can be present in the semen of patients who have the coronavirus, as well as those recovering from it, according to a recent study published in JAMA Network Open.
Fifty men were enrolled in the study's testing, however only 38 were able to provide a semen sample.
Twenty-three of the participants who were able to provide a semen sample recovered from their COVID-19 infection. Two of these recovered patients had COVID-19 in their semen, which is particularly noteworthy, the study said.

6. Five sailors from the embattled aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt who had previously tested positive for Covid-19 retested positive this week, officials confirmed Friday.
The sailors had previously returned to the ship, which has been sidelined in Guam as leadership works to get the crew free of the novel coronavirus and back to work.

7. There have been 281,752 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 2,631 deaths.

8. Today, all the Israeli insurance companies no longer cover travel to the United States!

9. What will it take to let a tourist enter the country? Look at Austria, which recently unveiled a brand-new concept: Travelers wanting to enter Austria and avoid a two-week quarantine are charged approximately $200 to prove they are free of COVID-19. If travelers elect not to pay, they must go into quarantine. It is a three-hour test that is done upon arrival and the tourist must wait for the results.

Japan update: Sunday May 17, 2020

On the 17th, 27 people were confirmed nationwide, including 8 in Hokkaido and 5 in Tokyo. In addition, eight deaths have been announced nationwide.

By the 17th, there were 16,337 people infected in Japan, including quarantine at the airport, and 712 passengers and crew members on cruise ships, for a total of 17,049 people.

The number of people who died in Japan is 756, and the number of passengers on cruise ships is 13, which is 769 people.

According to each municipality, the total number of people confirmed to be infected in Japan is as follows:
▽ Tokyo: 5055
▽ Osaka: 1770
▽ Kanagawa: 1266
▽ Hokkaido: 1014
▽ Saitama: 985
▽ Chiba 892 people
▽ Hyogo prefecture 700 people
▽ Fukuoka prefecture 658 people
▽ Aichi prefecture 509 people
▽ Kyoto prefecture 358 people
▽ Ishikawa prefecture 287 people
▽ Toyama prefecture 225 people
▽ Ibaraki prefecture 168 people
▽ Hiroshima prefecture 166 people
Number of people ▽ 150 in Gifu prefecture
147 in Gunma prefecture
142 in Okinawa prefecture
122 in Fukui prefecture ▽
99 in Shiga prefecture ▽
90 in Nara prefecture ▽
88 in Miyagi prefecture ▽
82 in Niigata prefecture
▽ Fukushima prefecture 81 people
Nagano prefecture 76 people
Kochi prefecture 74 people
Shizuoka prefecture 73 people
Ehime prefecture 71 people
Yamagata prefecture 69 people
Wakayama prefecture 63 people
Tochigi prefecture 60 people
Oita prefecture 60 people
▽ Yamanashi prefecture 57 people
▽ Kumamoto prefecture 48 people
▽ Saga prefecture 47 people
▽ Mie prefecture 45 people
▽ Yamaguchi prefecture 37 people
▽ Kagawa prefecture 28 people
▽ Aomori prefecture 27 people
▽ Okayama prefecture 25 people
▽ Shimane prefecture 24 people
▽ Nagasaki prefecture 17 people
▽ Miyazaki prefecture 17 people
▽ Akita prefecture 16 people
▽ Kagoshima prefecture 10 people
▽ Tokushima prefecture 5 people
▽ Tottori The prefecture has 3 people.

In addition,
there were 317 people confirmed by quarantine at airports, and
14 people returned from China by charter aircraft.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of seriously ill persons was 230, and the number of people on board a cruise ship was four, totaling 234 by 17th.

Well, keep you physical distance from everyone, wear mask and eye wear. Save your money for a rainy day.
 
Has everybody received their "abenomasks"? We got ours today, and they are ridiculously small. It's pretty meaningless with a beak like mine. Perhaps, in a few years, we can sell them on Ebay.

full
 
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has set criteria for the first step to relax the Coronavirus emergency measures imposed in April.

tokyo-criteria.JPG


  • Fewer than 20 new cases per day
  • Fewer than 50% of new cases are untraceable (transmission routes unknown)
  • No net increase in the number of new cases over the previous week

Also factored in are the number of critical cases, the number of hospitalisations, the rate of positive PCR tests, and the number of consultations with public health authorities from residents.


In the past five days, the number of infections was 10, 30, 9, 14, and yesterday 5 confirmed cases, so the criteria are almost met.


Other positive side effects:


And some perhaps unexpected side effects:

 
Nope, haven't received ours yet. They do look too small. Guess they were made for children when they go to school.
 
News that will make @Davey and @イェンス cheer:


Also, Starbucks Japan opened its stores on Tuesday:

 
Has everybody received their "abenomasks"? We got ours today, and they are ridiculously small. It's pretty meaningless with a beak like mine. Perhaps, in a few years, we can sell them on Ebay.

Haven't received anything yet, I guess we are not on the VIP list ! :cry::cry::cry:
 
State of Emergency lifted for Kansai (Hyogo, Kyoto, Osaka) but not for Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa and Hokkaido. Government will convene experts again on the 25th to reconsider lifting State of Emergency for Tokyo and remaining areas.

11 New cases found in Tokyo today. 34 in the whole country (as of around 6:00pm)
Majestic house still waiting on the application form for the 100,000 yen

may 21 corona.PNG
 
An article that rebuts the trope of Japan requiring strict tests on people who have died from pneumonia-like symptoms. That claim is often made to provide defense for Japan's covid19 numbers. This article says that even hospitals who wanted to perform PRC tests on deceased patients, couldn't get approval to do so from public health centers.

I think given the relatively low number of total deaths in Japan related to covid19, even a doubling of the current number (825 as of yesterday) would still result in a "low" number of casualties compared to the west. So I am not in the camp of those who suspect a massive coverup and massive miscounting of Japanese numbers of cases.

But it does indicate an unwillingness to to pursue accuracy of data, which reflects negatively on Japan's otherwise admirable job of containing the virus. The great shrug of the shoulders that says, "we can't test them if they don't present the right symptoms to us", is a persistent weak spot that will get poked again and again.


Oh, and the Majestic household just got our application for the relief cash yesterday.
 
With only two infections on Saturday and 14 today, Sunday, in Tokyo, five new infections in Kanagawa and no new infections in Chiba during the past three days, the government will most likely lift the state of emergency in Kanto (Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa) as well as in Hokkaido tomorrow.


Tokyo, however, reported 14 new coronavirus cases Sunday, the highest since May 16, after just two cases were confirmed on Saturday. The total for the past seven days is 50, below the threshold of 70, or 0.5 people per 100,000, which the government has outlined as being needed to lift the emergency.

 
Well, the politicians are not going to tank the work force this summer. That would be suicide. At all cost the work force MUST get back to work. Although my feeling is this: we here in Japan will just have to adjust to the restriction placed in front of us to live with. Hopefully it won't be as bad as Los Angeles restrictions are. Which are unreal and illegal too.
Hopefully in June we'll see a more , but slow opening up of the hotels, beaches and campsites. Going to be a strange summer though. Beers sales will outpace food sales. LOL
 
Japan considering lifting entry restrictions on four countries: Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Vietnam. The relaxation of restrictions on entrants from these four countries would commence in July. The articles says the relaxation would apply primarily to business travelers. They would be required to take a PCR test before coming to Japan, and bring proof of that test with them. Then, once in Japan, they would have to take another PCR test, and they would only be allowed once the test proves negative. Korea and China also under consideration, but there are political considerations hamstringing the discussions with these two countries.

I'm happy to see some clear progress on resuming international air travel, but sheesh...

 
Japan considering lifting entry restrictions on four countries: Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Vietnam. The relaxation of restrictions on entrants from these four countries would commence in July. The articles says the relaxation would apply primarily to business travelers. They would be required to take a PCR test before coming to Japan, and bring proof of that test with them. Then, once in Japan, they would have to take another PCR test, and they would only be allowed once the test proves negative. Korea and China also under consideration, but there are political considerations hamstringing the discussions with these two countries.

I'm happy to see some clear progress on resuming international air travel, but sheesh...



China and Korea ? Does that includes the ships from North Korea and the ferries from south Korea ?

I don't think that would be a good idea, but business is business. Now if only they start opening up the campsites soon.
 
The number of new infections in Tokyo and some other areas seems to have slightly increased, but that was to be expected after the SoE was lifted last week: 34 new cases today in Tokyo alone, the first time the number of daily cases has topped 30 in almost three weeks.



Meanwhile, the government approved a new saliva-based test designed to be used on patients that have been showing symptoms for up to nine days. The test will be covered by national health insurance. There is no word on whether there are any plans to increase the number of tests.


Has anyone been lucky enough to see one of the morale-boosting "surprise fireworks" yesterday evening?

corona-firework01.jpg

Fireworks in Fuchu, Tokyo (AFP)

corona-firework02.jpg

Fireworks in Osaka (Kyodo)

 
Just after the above was posted, Tokyo did issue a "coronavirus alert", illuminating Rainbow Bridge and several public buildings in red to make residents aware of the precarious situation and urge them to be cautious.

rainbowbridge-coronavirus-alert.jpg

Photo credit: Reuters

Officials say the brief rise in new cases can largely be attributed to nosocomial infections as well as people partaking in nightlife activities in the Shinjuku area.

 
Just after the above was posted, Tokyo did issue a "coronavirus alert", illuminating Rainbow Bridge and several public buildings in red to make residents aware of the precarious situation and urge them to be cautious.

View attachment 32035
Photo credit: Reuters




I wonder how they get these numbers ?
Are the numbers the ones that actually go to the hospital for testing?
I heard in Kyushu , 10 school kids now are infected. One is in the hospital.
Going to be a long hot summer I feel.
 
This explains everything. 🙃



Though Mr Aso has a different theory.

 
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