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People wear masks on a Tokyo street on Dec. 11 – Photo: AP
It’s not easy to be more aggressive unless the state declares a state of emergency again.
The leader of a Japanese machine manufacturing company describes the dilemma in the Japan Times newspaper.
Once hailed as a role model against the world’s epidemic, countries like Korea and Japan are showing signs of “stumbling” as the number of COVID-19 infections skyrockets again, extinguishing all hope of recovery. rapid economic recovery.
Japanese welcome New “tsunami”
The first vaccines can be widely implemented in just a few months. Meanwhile, it will be a very long winter for many countries.
NHK reported that Japan recorded a record number of COVID-19 infections in one day since the start of the epidemic, surpassing 3,000 for the first time. The provinces with “new records” include the cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Saitama, Nagano, Kochi and Yamagata.
In Tokyo, the hospital examined a total of 8,398 people on Saturday (December 12), resulting in 621 infections (almost 7.4%), more than the previous record of 602 for the day. 10-12. In particular, among new infections, people in their 20s account for the highest proportion (181), followed by 30 (119), 89 to 40 and 77 over 65.
Tokyo started seeing cases on the rise in mid-November. In most city districts, restaurants, bars and karaoke bars that serve alcohol have been ordered to shorten hours, close first. 22h.
Japanese health experts call this the third wave of infection. As in many other countries, people are concerned that health systems in some areas are starting to become overloaded, leading to an increased risk of death for patients, not just COVID-19 but many other diseases as well.
The Japanese Self-Defense Forces had to send military nurses to the cities of Asahikawa, Osaka to help the doctor. A health committee urged the Japanese government to immediately halt a program to stimulate tourism in major epidemic areas to save hospitals. The administration of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is said to be deciding between fighting epidemics and preventing the economy from collapsing.
In general, Japanese workers will not be able to enjoy the festive atmosphere from now until the new year. A new survey by Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. shows that more than 94% of Japanese companies plan to ban employees from hosting all kinds of New Year’s Eve or New Year’s parties, as well as further restricting the number of employees in the office .
South Korea: “urgent” situation
Right next to Japan, neighboring Korea is also entering difficult days. On Sunday, December 13, the number of COVID-19 infections per day in kimchi surpassed the 1,000-case mark for the first time, of which almost all were community infections, Yonhap reported.
According to CDC Korea, the number of cases per day in early December was only 400 to 600 cases, but by the end of the week it suddenly rose to more than 900, then continued to break the 1,000 mark on Sunday. Health officials and authorities have begun to worry.
The outbreaks in South Korea are mainly one-on-one meetings, but there are also two major outbreaks, one in a church and one in a hospital. At the beginning of last week, South Korea raised the social gap to 2.5, the second highest on a scale of five levels, but was still unable to stop the spread of the virus.
On December 12, President Moon Jae In described the epidemic as “urgent” and called on all levels of government to mobilize all resources to cope. Prime Minister Chung Sye Kyun “threatened” that the government could be forced to increase the social gap to the highest level if nothing improves.
The Tier 3 (highest) gap in Korea is not as severe as in the US or Europe, the goal is to reduce social and business activities in many areas that the government deems most effective. For example, do not gather more than 10 people, students who study at home …
According to the Korea Herald, on December 13, President Moon Jae In chaired an emergency meeting on the epidemic. This is the first time in 10 months, since February 23, that Moon urgently convened members of the government, municipal and local leaders, enough to show the urgency of the situation. Usually these meetings are run solely by the prime minister.
China has not seen a major outbreak
According to Reuters, on December 13, China’s National Health Commission announced that it had recorded 24 cases of COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours, up from 13 cases the day before. Among the new infections, there are 5 cases of community infection, 19 cases were imported from abroad. The number of asymptomatic infections (which were not included in China’s official statistics) decreased to 14 cases (17 days ago).
As of December 12, mainland China had 86,725 cases, the death toll still standing at 4,634 since the beginning of the epidemic.
