01 June 2022, Tuesday — Coronavirus Digest from Japanese Morning TV News Part 1 (of 1): Headlines and (yesterday’s) numbers
Day 765 of doing these daily posts continuously.
See photo captions for stories.
Photo 01
Japan covid-related topics in NHK’s 7am news bulletin today:
Raising the number of entrants to the country to 20,000 [from today]
Numbers and encephalitis story taken from last night’s 9pm news.
Photo 2a
22022 new cases confirmed
[vs. 32382 for the same day last week. 36903 the same day two weeks ago.]
47 out of 47 prefectures reported cases yesterday.
No new daily case records.
Nowhere with five digits
Quadruple figures in 7 prefectures:
Okinawa, Fukuoka, Hyogo, Osaka, Aichi, Kanagawa and Tokyo.
[Hokkaido’s two days under 1000 is the first time since March 22]
34 prefectures in triple figures
6 prefectures in double figures
Tokyo on 2362 [vs. 3271 same day last week]
Osaka on 2314 [vs. 3561 same day last week]
[Tokyo has been down vs. same day previous week for 18 straight days now]
The number of positives at immigration testing was 119
[This number is about to lose its meaning, as border testing will be relaxed from today even as double the number of people are being allowed into the country]
Photo 02b
The total of current active serious cases stands at 93, up 3 from the previous day.
39 deaths announced yesterday, for a total of 30636
Total recorded cases at 8854451
Recovered cases at 8531059 (around 35,000 recovered cases from the previous day)
Total active cases are at 292,856 (down around 13000 vs the previous day and falling below 300,000).
Percentage of active cases as a percentage of the grand total of cases is 3.3%.
Photo 03
So from today the upper limit on daily entrants into Japanese has been raised to 20k (from 3, 7, and 10k previously).
And border measures will also be eased.
Photo 04
The govt. has classed the world’s countries and territories into 3 group.s
The 98 countries deemed to be lowest risk will be exempt from testing and quarantine regardless of whether they have been vaccinated.
The 99 countries in the next lowest group will be exempt from testing and quarantine on condition that they have been triple jabbed.
Photo 05
From June 10th Japan will resume the acceptance of foreign tourists from Japan, limited to supervised tour groups, from the countries designated lowest risk.
Photo 06
Kishida said yesterday that the government plans to issue official guidelines for travel companies on June 07.
Photo 07
The govt is also planning to allow Chitose and Naha airports reopen to international flights and will consider the situation for regional airports such as Sendai going forward [while liaising with the local authorities].
Photo 08
The government is planning to discuss further easing of border measures [to stimulate socio-economic activity] while keeping a watchful eye on the infection situation.
Photo 09
Japanese Society of Pediatric Neurology will investigate the risk of “acute encephalopathy” caused by infection with corona.
Photo 10
At the Jichi Medical University Hospital in Tochigi Prefecture…
Photo 11
…this month, a child under 5 years old with no underlying medical conditions developed severe convulsions at home, was brought to Jichi Medical University Hospital, where it was found that he was infected with the new corona and had also developed “acute encephalopathy.
Photo 12
The child became severely ill, temporarily losing the ability to breathe spontaneously, and although he survived, he is still hospitalized with partial paralysis due to damage to his brain.
Photo 13
This is said to be “acute encephalopathy” due to infection with covid19.
Photo 14
[Although it is rare for children to become seriously ill from the new corona,] Tochigi Prefecture announced on May 1 that a child under 10 years old with no underlying medical condition had died of “acute encephalopathy” caused by infection with covid19.
Photo 15
According to the Japanese Society of Pediatric Neurology, there have been approximately 10 cases of acute encephalopathy in children without apparent underlying medical conditions due to infection with covid19.
Photo 16
The JNIH are conduct interviews at medical institutions nationwide in order to quickly investigate the risk of “acute encephalopathy” caused by infection with covid19.
Photo 17
NHK’s frequently seen rent-a-prof says that “acute encephalopathy” is not a disease specific to the new corona [rather it is caused by excessive production of substances of the body’s immune function called “inflammatory cytokines” due to various infections].
Photo 18
“Loss of lucid consciousness is one of the first neurological symptoms.”
Photo 19
Specifically, the child appears to be sleepy and shows little response to having their name called or even being pinched.
Photo 20
“The most important indicator is that they appear to be different from how they are usually.”
Photo 21
If this low level of response continues for several hours (due to the neurological symptoms)…
Photo 22
…you should go to the hospital immediately.