This is what happens when you end "stay at home" too early... Emergency Declared In Japanese Prefecture Hit By 2nd Wave Of Coronavirus Infections https://www.npr.org/sections/corona...ecture-hit-by-2nd-wave-of-coronavirus-infecti Japan's Hokkaido prefecture, which accounted for the country's highest number of coronavirus infections as the pandemic initially swept through Asia, has seen a sudden uptick in cases, causing government officials there to declare a state of emergency less than a month after lifting a similar order. The governor of Hokkaido, the country's northernmost main island and the largest prefecture by size, made the announcement Sunday following nearly a week of double-digit increases in cases in the prefecture, according to Kyodo news service. "We are facing a crisis of a second wave in the spread of (the coronavirus) infections," Gov. Naomichi Suzuki told reporters in the capital, Sapporo. The declaration, which falls under a law revised just last month in response to the pandemic, allows governors to issue stay-at-home directives to contain the spread of the virus. Hokkaido declared a three-week state of emergency in February that was lifted on March 19. The prefecture had begun to reopen schools and was even allowing carefully orchestrated public gatherings. But the latest order reverses all that, asking residents once again to refrain from nonessential trips outside their homes and closing prefectural primary and secondary schools until May 6. The directive comes amid a resurgence in virus cases throughout the country that prompted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week to issue a state of emergency for several other prefectures, in and around the capital, Tokyo, and Osaka. Officials reported 166 new cases in Tokyo on Sunday, bringing the total there to more than 2,000.
i appreciate them acting swiftly... but 2000 cases in a city of 13,000,000??? Does not sound like a major out of control spread really although it is good that they react.
Well, the Asian folks in condensed areas like Japan, Hong Kong and China have been wearing masks for years and years, due to their fears of the pollution in the air, among other things. So maybe they are a model for what simple pre-emptive measures can do? (Although I, like you, think it is mostly bullshit as they are downplaying their numbers a tad. )
Well I think they are reacting appropriately but still crazy to think a panic based on those numbers.
You have to read these lines in the Japanese context, which varies substantially from other countries. By law the government is not allowed to limit the freedom of movement of its citizens. So all they can do is to "ask" the citizens to stay home. This cannot be enforced and no penalties are imposed if one ignores this request. As a result, there are many companies who take the position that, if an employee decides to stay home, (s)he has to take unpaid leave. The government cannot take steps against this company mentality, and thus are employees forced to go out and work, because they need their income. The terminology "state of emergency" thus has a completely different meaning in Japan than in other countries.