12 July 2021 (Monday) – Coronavirus Digest from Japanese Morning TV News Part 2 (of 2): Catch up for remaining items

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[So the Olympics is due to kick off next week, and the vast majority of it will be behind closed doors, spectator-wise. NHK decided to pad out today’s show with some focus on that without really adding anything substantial.]
Yesterday, in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi prefecture, the US women’s softball team held an open practice where spectators were allowed. People generally sat a seat or two apart from other groups and enjoyed themselves. Vox-popped fans dutifully said that having spectators was a key part of the atmosphere.

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But as we already went over in previous days, Tokyo+3 and Fukushima and Hokkaido have all decided to hold their events without spectators. [Though in practice I imagine it will be difficult to prevent spectators lining the route of the road portion of the marathon in Hokkaido. Or, Lord help us, the walking race.]

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Shizuoka and Miyagi will be letting up to 10,000 spectators in at their venues [mainly for soccer?] and Ibaraki will be allowing in groups of schoolchildren only.

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The prefectural governors had an online meeting yesterday to discuss the situation across the country.
They hope that the government will strongly promote a safe spectator style [by calling for people to:] “Let’s watch the games at home” etc.

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They are also recommending to the national government that they take measures to suppress the moving around of people for the Olympics, and to take strict measures at borders.

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Muto, Secretary General of the Organizing Committee, said on NHK’s “Sunday Debate”:
“I don’t think the value of the Olympics changes depending on whether or not there are spectators present.”

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He would like to realize the games as the “Tokyo Model” and send it out to the world.

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NHK went on to look wonderingly at the Wimbledon men’s final at a packed centre court (capacity 15,000).

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Actually, all spectators have had to show they were fully vaccinated or produce a negative test result from the previous couple of days, so most people were unconcerned.

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And while Wimbledon asked people to wear masks while walking around the place, they did not require them while spectating the match.

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[Insult to injury: People drinking beer right there in their center court seats.]

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Organizer: It’s been a highly unusual tournament and we’ve had a few positive cases during the tournament…

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…but no big problems such as a major cluster.

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Meanwhile 60,000 people descended on Wembley for another salutary lesson in what it means to be an England fan.

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[It’s not all fun and games though, despite what this woman’s mask would have you believe.]

With Delta virus out and about, cases have seen a sharp rise recently in the UK, with some days even topping 35,000 new cases.

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But with 65% of the adult population fully vaccinated, the government claims that they have managed to avoid many serious cases and kept deaths and hospitalizations down to a certain level.

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With a view to holding large-scale events in recent weeks, since April the UK government had allowed a series of live experiment events where large numbers of people were allowed to participate after fulfilling certain criteria. [You may remember they held a maskless rave in a circus tent in Liverpool on the condition that everybody who went was tested a few days before and a few days after.]

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The government plans to lift virtually all restrictions such as “limits on numbers for gatherings and events” and “mandatory mask wearing in public” on July 19.

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However, [experts and opposition parties have expressed] objections to what they see as the government’s cavalier approach [particularly with Delta continuing to spread rapidly].

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[Moving back to the SofE now and how restaurant businesses have been affected by this U-turn on the provision of alcohol in Tokyo establishments after a mere three weeks.]

This Izakaya chain had closed two thirds of its stores during SofE and was only serving lunch at the open branches.

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In order to ensure the continued livelihood of its staff members, it had sent out 100 staff to work in other companies (bakeries, supermarkets, security firms) during the SofE.

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When SofE changed to Manbo, and the izakayas could reopen their branches to a certain extent and serve alcohol, they recalled 30 of those dispatched staff to the restaurants.

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However, with SofE back in place for 6 weeks, they have had to ship 40 staff back out to other busineses.

[They are putting a brave face on this, saying it will lead to the staff acquiring new skills that will be useful in their main business. And of course it is good that they are making efforts to protect the employment of their staff.]

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[Domestic vaccine development and production now.]

Japanese pharma company Daiichi Sankyo has developed an mRNA vaccine domestically and is ready to do a human trial involving about 150 people.

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Before the year is out, they hope to move to a final stage human trial involving several thousand people.

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Due to the difficulty in holding a double-blind trial with tens of thousands of participants where the vaccine’s effectiveness is compared to that of a placebo…

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They will instead do a trial where the effectiveness of the domestic vaccine in producing antibodies is compared with the antibody numbers for a vaccine that is already in use (i.e. Pfizer or Moderna).

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Based on the results of these trials, Daiichi Sankyo will apply for government approval of the vaccine and then go into mass production.

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The plan is to try to have the vaccine ready by sometime in 2022.

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“Our first priority at the moment is of course Covid19, but we hope to use the same kind of [mRNA] technology to produce other vaccines going forward.”

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Other domestic companies are also developing vaccines, with Anges at the stage of doing a final clinical trial on around 500 people.

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Shionogi and KMB are getting ready to start clinical trials too.

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[Final gentle thing to finish, from the regional bulletin: Wakayama prefectural police are going round campsites asking people to observe litter etiquette and be careful not to drown.]

Under covid, the amount of people choosing to do camping holidays has exploded.

[I am going next week, actually.]

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A lot of people have been throwing paper plates and food waste into the river, and just leaving the tools they have used behind when they leave the site. [Presumably this means cheap BBQ grills, tongs and such.]

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So the police having been going around reminding people to take their trash home with them.

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Water-related accidents have spiked too, with 18 incidents so far in Wakayama this year, compared to 9 for the same period last year.

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So the police have been warning people of the dangers of playing in the water.

[Love this picture.]