3 ms·

Living here I find their messaging contradictory and confusing. You should social distance—but we'll give you discounts on eating out, the more people the bigge

Living here I find their messaging contradictory and confusing. You should social distance—but we'll give you discounts on eating out, the more people the bigger the discount (Go To Eat Campaign)! But actually you should stay home... but hey if you travel around the country we'll give you steep discounts on your hotels and local expenses (Go To Travel Campaign)!! Coupled with the articles earlier on in the pandemic talking about doctors being unable to give their patients COVID tests (which may have had more to do with limited supplies or the lack of treatment capability, to be fair) [1][2][3]; as well as the pretty high cost of getting a negative PCR test result here (I got a test, tested positive (minor case), and it was covered by national insurance for around $15; but my friends who tested negative after coming in contact with me, paid about $300 each for their tests) leads me to think the published numbers are probably pretty inaccurate. I'm not really complaining as society seems to be functioning fine, but if the numbers were worse I would be. [1] http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13188937 http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13188937 [2] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/07/national/testing-corpses-coronavirus/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/07/national/testin... [3] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-japan-testing/japan-uses-just-a-fraction-of-its-coronavirus-testing-capacity-idUSKBN2150ZR https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-japan-...

freetime2 6y ago
If Japan were not doing enough testing, you would expect to see a high positivity rate on PCR tests. But positivity rates have been relatively low. Well under 10% since April, and even under 5% for much of the year [1]. A 5% positivity rate or lower is the WHO’s recommendation for when countries can begin to loosen restrictions [2]. Currently the rate is above 5% in Japan which is a concern. We are starting to see the government take measures to curb the spread, by suspending “Go To Travel” subsidies over New Years for example. And they have said they will do more if necessary. And fortunately growth seems to at least have leveled off a bit in recent weeks. [1] https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/positive-rate-daily-smoothed?tab=chart&time=earliest..latest&country=~JPN&region=Asia https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/positive-rate-daily-smoot... [2] https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles/covid-19-testing-understanding-the-percent-positive.html https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles/covid-19-testing-und...

freetime2 6y ago

If Japan were not doing enough testing, you would expect to see a high positivity rate on PCR tests. But positivity rates have been relatively low. Well under 10% since April, and even under 5% for much of the year [1]. A 5% positivity rate or lower is the WHO’s recommendation for when countries can begin to loosen restrictions [2]. Currently the rate is above 5% in Japan which is a concern. We are starting to see the government take measures to curb the spread, by suspending “Go To Travel” subsidies over New Years for example. And they have said they will do more if necessary. And fortunately growth seems to at least have leveled off a bit in recent weeks. [1] https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/positive-rate-daily-smoothed?tab=chart&time=earliest..latest&country=~JPN&region=Asia https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/positive-rate-daily-smoot... [2] https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles/covid-19-testing-understanding-the-percent-positive.html https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles/covid-19-testing-und...