Newsweek: Japan Ends Coronavirus Emergency with 850 Deaths - and No Lockdown

It would be worth a read if you didn’t link to a video! Also, it’s too late for us! Trumps incompetence and the stupidity of his supporters ensure disaster!

Dear sweet baby jesus Newsweek is a cluttered mess of a website.

I wish we were turning Japanese in this situation.

Let me try to cut to a non-video version, r1, but here is the text: ----- Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced the end of his state of emergency declaration for the novel coronavirus pandemic, with just 851 deaths reported and without ever implementing a lockdown.

"I have decided to end the state of emergency across the nation," Abe said during a televised press conference on Monday. "In just over a month and a half, we almost brought (the infection) situation under control."

Abe cautioned that lifting the order did not mean that the novel virus was gone from Japan. "Our battle against the virus will continue," he said, while urging the Japanese people to continue following stringent social distancing guidance.

As of Monday, the East Asian nation had reported 16,628 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. Of those infected, 13,612 have already recovered and 851 have died. Tokyo, the nation's capital with 14 million residents, was the hardest-hit part of the country, with more than 5,100 cases. On Monday, the city reported just eight new infections.

A spokesperson from the Japanese embassy in Washington, D.C. told Newsweek that the country would continue to monitor the spread of the virus and maintain restrictions on international travelers for the foreseeable future.

"The spread of COVID-19 is changing from moment to moment and it is challenging to predict confidently. However, Japan is to carefully consider how to ease its restrictions on international travels partially and gradually while keeping to contain COVID-19," the spokesperson explained in an email.

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Continued from Newsweek article at r4

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While Japan never implemented stringent lockdowns like those in parts of China, many European countries and the U.S., it barred foreigner travelers who had recently visited many hard-hit countries and urged residents to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Restaurants and shops were also required to close earlier than normal. Karaoke bars, live music venues and gyms were shuttered and will remain closed in the coming weeks.

Public health officials in Japan have warned the population to wear masks in public and continue to work from home if possible. The Japanese government has asked the population to adapt to a new lifestyle to avoid an uptick in new cases and prevent the spread of the virus. People have also been encouraged to avoid traveling for non-essential purposes to other regions of the country.It's unclear why Japan has a relatively low infection rate and a comparatively small number of deaths due to COVID-19. Abe has faced criticism for taking little action to curb the virus' spread as many other nations implemented stringent lockdowns.

"Just by looking at death numbers, you can say Japan was successful," Mikihito Tanaka, a professor at Waseda University specializing in science communication, and a member of a public group of experts on the novel virus, told Bloomberg. "But even experts don't know the reason."

Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan's economic revitalization minister, has said that the situation with the virus will be reviewed every three weeks and further steps could be taken to ease the guidance currently in place, Kyodo News reported. Until then, the Japanese public has been encouraged to remain at home and to avoid large public gatherings.

[This article has been updated with a comment from the Japanese embassy in Washington, D.C.]

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Byline: JASON LEMON ON 5/25/20 AT 11:26 AM EDT

Trump and his supporters are too reckless and stupid to be trusted to do something like this! Japan is not run by trump and their are no deplorables!

This thread reeks of deplorable propaganda

R7 - no, it's actually the opposite. All the Asian countries have fared so much better than other countries. Why? They had experience with SARS and other viruses in the past 10 years. They wore those masks early and with almost 100% compliance.

I'm convinced this virus is about long-term (more than a few seconds) of virus exposure due to close-proximity talking, coughing or sneezing. Masks help to reduce any large viral load contact so that your body may be able to fight it off. The CDC already announced that surface contact is a relatively low-risk and most likely not how people have contracted the virus.

Masks are the answer. Asia proved that.

R7 please present alternative facts that show Japan has huge death tolls. Asian countries think of the greater good and wear masks unlike asshole Americans.

r7 You are ridiculous. It's from Newsweek - not from fucking brightfart.

The Japanese are so quiet and mannerly, they never spread 'droplets' through loud talking or close physical proximity.

"The Japanese are so quiet and mannerly,"

We beg to differ

I apologize Miss Bataan, but you do really need to stop posting from the 1940s.

R12 WWII is over (newsflash). And yes to R13.

I think Japan is one of the most civilized countries in the world. Yes, horrific past, but they also vowed they would never be on the offensive in war times, ever again.

That a heavily populated country has found a way out of this morass is fantastic news.

Stop oversimplifying. Societies don't work like that. Civilian life and behavior of soldiers in wartime or people in a crisis situation or even certain other civilian situations are totally different things. You can't judge a whole society by picking one situation.

An island with law abiding citizens has a greater chance than our Wild West free for all.

Obviously it's an Asian disease from way back, and has just made a resurgence. Or else most of Asia would be dead.

Same old story: imported disease kills thousands before 'herd immunity' takes over.

It’s all about the masks, dolls. Which is why it’s especially infuriating that Trump has made wearing masks a sign of disloyalty to him.

From the article:

[quote] "Just by looking at death numbers, you can say Japan was successful," Mikihito Tanaka, a professor at Waseda University specializing in science communication, and a member of a public group of experts on the novel virus, told Bloomberg.

[quote] "But even experts don't know the reason."

I remember that in the eighties people in Japan walked around wearing face masks in public to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. No surprise their coronation fatalities are comparatively low. It’s so densely populated there it’s a potential haven for viruses with people living on top of one another.

Broad generalization here - Japanese are just much more disciplined and simply smarter than most people. They also pride conformity and respect for authority.

These traits alone gave them the upper hand. Not something most Americans celebrate. Nerds, squares, sheep, and bootlickers --- not the Murican' way.

FREEDUMB Baby!

R21 The Japanese don’t just wear masks for that reason. One main reason is actually allergies, there are year-round pollen from cedar, cypress, and other plants. But yes, the Japanese are taught early on as part of their culture that it’s rude to go out while you’re sick, coughing on public transports and in stores. If you do have to go out then you wear a mask, the stores there have many different types of masks for different purposes.

I wouldn't say they are smarter - but most Asian countries have a sense of society over individual. We are not entirely polar opposite - but we definitely give individuality a priority.

And masks aren't always worn there for germs - some people wear them for fashion and some women use them as an easy way to go out to the shops without getting made up. There is some pressure for Japanese women to be made up when they go out. You'll never see them in a sloppy pony and pajamas.

I think they beat the virus because they pixellate their genitals.

Remarkable really when you consider that Japan has the oldest population in the world (disproportionately affected by COVID) and it's incredibly densely-populated -- it's roughly the same size as California with 86 million more people! More than three times as many residents as our most populous state.

R24 just wow.

Freedumb lovin' American thinking at its best. And I'm American mind you.

Amurica - we're still the best! 100,000 cases and running! Open 'errr up, its SUMMAHTIME!

Japanese people are incredibly disciplined and actually take proper steps.

Japanese culture considers cleanliness not just a virtue but a necessity, they're anal retentive about cleanliness both in public and private. The subway trains and buses there are immaculate, same with the streets even in a large city like Tokyo. I think it's not just masks that played a role in how Japan was able to avoid lockdown yet have so few COVID-19 cases in comparison with other countries. It's their overall culture of cleanliness ingrained to every citizen from childhood.

[quote]"The Japanese are so quiet and mannerly,"

Um, no.

R30, I think I know which viral video you're referring to, and those were not Japanese people.

[quote] [R12] WWII is over (newsflash). And yes to [R13]. I think Japan is one of the most civilized countries in the world.

People of Germanic descent comprise the single largest ethnicity within the US -- Trump's ethnic background.

Funny how these Krauts largely escaped WWII-era persecution and nobody bleats on about how barbaric they were during WWII.

Good for Japan.