11 July 2022, Monday — Coronavirus Digest from Japanese Morning TV News Part 1 (of 1): Headlines and (yesterday’s) numbers
Day 805 of doing these daily posts continuously.
See photo captions for stories.
Photo 01a
No headline list today.
As was widely expected, the ruling LDP and partner Komeito won big in yesterday’s upper house elections. I will come back to this later.
Photo 2a
[Numbers were shown at Minute #44 of this 45-minute news show.]
54068 new cases confirmed
[vs. 23299 for the same day last week, 14328 the same day two weeks ago.]
47 out of 47 prefectures reported cases yesterday.
New records for daily cases today in 2 prefectures: Oita (668) and Tottori (297)
Nowhere with five digits (but Tokyo is getting close)
Quadruple figures in 12 prefectures:
Okinawa, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Hyogo, Osaka, Kyoto, Aichi (over 3000), Shizuoka, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba and Tokyo [vs. 8 prefectures same day last week]
35 prefectures in triple figures [vs. 33 prefectures same day last week]
Nowhere in double figures [vs. 6 prefectures same day last week]
Nowhere in single figures
Tokyo on 9482 [vs. 3788 same day last week (2.5 times higher)]
Osaka on 5567 [vs. 2010 same day last week (also more than 2.5 times higher)]
The number of positives at immigration testing was 22.
[Border testing was relaxed even as the number of people being allowed into the country has doubled from June 01.]
Photo 01b
The total of current active serious cases stands at 80, up 6 vs. the previous day.
12 deaths announced yesterday, for a total of 31445
Total recorded cases at 9710328
Recovered cases at 9289156 (around 22,000 recovered cases up from the previous day)
Total active cases are at 389,727 (up around 32000 vs the previous day).
Percentage of active cases as a percentage of the grand total of historical cases is 4.01%.
Photo 03
Nagoya’s sumo basho started up yesterday without any limits on the number of spectators.
People were temperature checked and hand squirted on the way in, and I assume people kept their masks on.
JC: We have to face it, this is not 2020 or 2021. We will now live with the disease, as we live with auto deaths yet keep driving (as the social price and risk we are willing to pay for the freedom of personal travel), as we live with heart disease yet the vast majority of us keep eating junk food. It is much easier to conclude now than in 2020-21 that the social cost of imposing further restraints on social movement and our ability to gather for work, fun and celebrations causes greater psychological and social harms (alienation, isolation, depression, economic suffering, the stunting of children’s development in socializing and at school) than the Covid disease itself. So, this is the choice that must be made. If it proves that there is truly a more deadly and harmful variant which appears, we must reconsider, but this wave does not seem to be the time to do so. (That said, we still need to be ready for next time in hospital policy, etc.) I am wondering how you feel on this balancing act, Simon Yates? I assume that you play in crowded clubs where people gather and celebrate too. I went to a music concert yesterday in support of Ukraine, with just the usual masks and temperature taking, but people sitting in a crowded room.
SY: I love that you think I play to anything that could be called a crowd.
Photo 04
Here’s a breakdown of the seats won by party.
I am sure I’ll be able to find an article with the party names in English so I won’t go through them all here. LDP top, then CDP then Komeito. The anti-NHK party won one seat by proportional representation.
Photo 05
With a 2/3 majority needed to vote on constitutional reform, observers expect to see this issue being pushed more prominently, and now with the added angle that rewriting the constitution would be a way of honoring Abe’s legacy – as this was one of his dearest ambitions and wishes.
[According the NHK website, the coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, along with two other parties in favor of amending the Constitution, are poised to hold more than two-thirds of the chamber.]
Photo 06
JAL and ANA have announced that due to rising fuel prices, they will be increasing fuel surcharges on international routes* (to be revised every two months).
[*to record levels]
Photo 07
August and September ticket prices will also see rises [separately from the fuel surcharge] due to fuel prices and the weak yen.
Photo 08
For example, ANA will raise its prices on routes to the US and Europe to 49,000 yen one way, 11600 yen higher than currently.
[NHK has been pretty selective with explaining this story. Here is a more detailed breakdown from the Asahi.com:
Japan Airlines Co. (JAL) and All Nippon Airways Co. (ANA) plan to raise their fuel sur-charges to record highs starting in August amid the soaring prices of crude oil.
Observers noted that Japan’s two largest airlines burdening passengers with higher surcharges may dampen the recovery of demand for international flights.
Shuichi Sakai, president of Purpose Japan Co. in Tokyo, which handles overseas travel for individuals, said the move will be “detrimental to the recovery of demand for over-seas travel.”
JAL said it will raise its surcharge for August and September. The surcharge for a one-way flight from Japan to Honolulu will be 30,500 yen ($224), an increase of 6,900 yen from the current cost.
The surcharge for a flight to Europe or North America will be 47,000 yen, which is 10,200 yen higher than the current charge.
The most inexpensive round-trip fare (economy class) to Honolulu in August and September was listed at 55,000 yen as of July 4. The round-trip surcharge will be raised from 47,200 yen to 61,000 yen. Passengers must pay the surcharge in addition to the airline fare.
In some cases, the surcharge is more expensive than the fare itself.]