20200711 (Saturday) Coronavirus Digest from Japanese Morning TV News Part 1 (of probably 1): Main News
I overslept and missed NHK this morning but grabbed some.stuff.from.here and.there.
I.am.writing.this on a phone.from a car today so thete will be lots.of.SOELLING probs and additional full.stops that don’t signify anything.
[Author’s note: I will be correcting all spelling and punctuation problems in the text below, but left this note here to remind myself of some of the tribulations I had keeping these posts daily….]
See photo captions for stories.
Photo 01
432 new cases yesterday
SNC: + some undisclosed number on Okinawa due to the bases. They conducted 100 PCR tests of close contacts based on the 5 that were reported infected on Thursday, so considering the increase to the infection number since then (but no longer reported), I would imagine an equal increase in PCR testing of military. I’d say we are at 10s of military per day showing infection, but who knows.
TC: Misawa in Aomori has also had 5-6 cases reported from charter flights from the states. They locked down the base for awhile when the first few were reported, and that weeekend my friend and I went shopping at a center that’s usually very populated with military families, not thinking about it until we got intense glares from people who presumably thought we snuck off base or something. It was a very strange feeling as usually Aomori is pretty friendly toward the American military and i get the benefit of that as a local American ALT, but yikes things are… different.
RRVD: This is from a Stars & Stripes article:
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243 new cases in Tokyo is the highest total ever and the first time to have two consecutive days of over 20,
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101 untraceable cases and 80% of cases in their 20s and 30s
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102 of these cases from Shinjuku area with 50 of those coming from group testing.
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Koike says daily testing now is now over 3000 tests a day…
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…which explains the rise in positive cases.
[She also says we should continue to be careful.]
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This doc is calling bullshit and saying there are still unconfirmed infections out in the community.
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“Both yesterday and the day before, the number of untraceable cases [in Tokyo] was over 100.”
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“So it’s possible that there are infections in those areas that have not been found.”
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“I think the number of infected people may be many times more than the number of confirmed cases.”
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Meanwhile, as we know, as of yesterday, sporting events and other events are allowed to have up to 5 thousand spectators. Masks were required and you will be turned away if your temperature was over 37.5 degrees.
[This is a pet peeve of mine, because they claim the average body temperature in Japan is actually 36 degrees, so at 37.5 degrees you are already pretty far gone.
I reckon they should set the upper limit at 37, and if you were somebody who has a naturally high body temperature, you can bring a doctor’s note.]
[Author’s note: My body temperature remark was hotly debated in the comments…]
Photo 12
And in case you were worried about people from Tokyo coming out to the provinces and infecting other people, in two weeks time the government’s Go To Travel campaign begins, with your vacation expenses supported up to the equivalent of 50%.
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50% support won’t happen until September though. At the beginning, you will only get 35% support
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Disney Resort has decided to cancel all major live events until the end of March next year. There will be no Halloween or New Year parties this year.
TH: Meanwhile in Texas today:
SY: It’s pretty funny when Disney acts more responsibly and less greedily than the government…
KP: They opened up in Florida today lol
FK: I believe TDL is a separate entity than Disney. Like, it’s franchised.
LDF: I saw that Disney is also sending home all foreign entertainers.