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JapanOnce considered a successful model for dealing with Covid-19, Hokkaido has become the focus of the second wave of outbreaks.
In late February, Hokkaido became the first place in Japan to declare a state of emergency due to Covid-19. Schools are closed, scale events are canceled, and people are encouraged to stay home. The local government has responded to nCoV very aggressively, tracing the source of infection and isolating anyone who comes into contact with patients.
This policy was effective and in mid-March, the number of new infections in Hokkaido decreased to 1-2 cases / day. On March 19, the state of emergency was lifted and schools reopened in early April.
However, 26 days after the emergency ended, a new emergency order was imposed. Hokkaido acted independently, while the Japanese government last week imposed a state of emergency with Tokyo, Osaka and five other provinces. On April 16, a national emergency was announced.
Young men walk down a deserted street in Tokyo on April 16. Photos: Reuters
Last week, Hokkaido registered 135 new nCoV infections. Unlike the first outbreak in February, there is no evidence that the virus has re-entered Japan from abroad. None of the new cases have been foreign, nor have any been outside of Japan in the past month.
Professor Kenji Shibuya of Imperial College London said that through the treatment of epidemics in Hokkaido, it can be seen that If you reach the peak of the epidemic early, everything will be under control.
“Putting out shoots, tracking and isolating is relatively easy,” he said. “The government was quite successful in controlling the outbreak. Japan was in the early stages of fighting the epidemic. They were located and it was a success story.”
In this sense, Hokkaido has similarities with the city of Daegu, South Korea, where outbreak The consequence of a cult that was fiercely tracked. Infected people are isolated and outbreaks are avoided.
However, Hokkaido’s second lesson is different. After controlling the Daegu outbreak, the Korean government began conducting a large-scale testing program to search for and track people infected with nCoV. Japan does the opposite.
Now, more than 3 months after the first case has been recorded, Japan still evaluates only a very small portion of the population. Initially, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government said the large-scale tests were a “waste of resources.” Now, you have to change your mind and say that you will increase the test, but some of the reasons for the process are slow.
The Japanese Ministry of Health is concerned that hospitals are overwhelmed by people who are positive for nCoV but have only mild symptoms. They also consider testing to be the responsibility of local health centers and not at the government level.
Meanwhile, some local health centers do not have enough staff or equipment to conduct mass tests. Local hotlines are overcrowded, and even getting orders from a doctor is a struggle.
The combination of these reasons makes it difficult for Japanese officials to understand how nCoV has spread among people, Professor Shibuya said.
Passengers near the notice board at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station, Hokkaido, today, April 8, require visitors to the island to be isolated for two weeks. Photos: Asahi
“We are in the midst of an outbreak of disease,” he said. “The great lesson from Hokkaido is that even if you successfully control it for the first time, it is difficult to isolate and maintain it for a long time. Without testing capacity expansion, it is difficult to identify infection in the community and in hospital infection. “
The third lesson is that the “new reality” will take much longer than most people predict. Hokkaido has again imposed travel restrictions, although Japan’s “blockade” is looser than other countries. Most people still go to work, schools may be closed, but shops and bars even remain open.
Professor Shibuya said that without taking tougher measures, Japan has little hope of controlling the “second wave” of Covid-19 taking place, not only in Hokkaido but across the country.
The “key lesson” he said was that “even if you manage to control the disease locally, the infection continues in other provinces and cities in the country, and as long as people travel, maintaining the virus-free status is difficult.”
Hokkaido’s economy is severely affected. The island depends on tourism revenue, while Japan has banned visitors from the United States, Europe, and most Asian countries.
The owner of a bar in the city of Chitose had to close and fire his staff. In Asahikawa city, Naoki Tamura said the bar was still open but there were almost no customers.
“Every night it receives 1-2 people,” he said. “In the past, there were a lot of tourists from China and Southeast Asia. Now they are completely gone. We no longer hear foreign languages on the streets. Small shops are closing.” very hard “.
The recently announced emergency situation is expected to end on May 6, the end of the “Golden Week” vacation. However, an official in charge of fighting the epidemic in Hokkaido said they may have to extend these measures longer.
“We feel we have to maintain this. The goal is to minimize contact between people to prevent the spread of the virus,” he said.
When asked how long the measures will last, he replied, “Until we find the vaccine, we must continue to try to prevent the spread of the disease.”
Mr ngoc (The O BBC)
