The number of new corona infections in Japan has fallen from 6,000 a day to just 100 a day in a few months. That seems spectacular, but many Japanese are critical, correspondent Anoma van de Veere said in the NOS Radio 1 News. “There are few positive tests, but there is also little testing.”
For example, in the capital Tokyo with more than 13 million inhabitants, only 2000 tests are taken per day. This may mean that not everyone who gets sick gets tested. “It may be that there is a hidden crisis, but that is not apparent from the death rates, for example, there is no excess mortality.”
The vaccination campaign is progressing well. In Japan, nearly 70 percent of adults are fully vaccinated and the vaccination rate is faster than in comparable countries such as Germany, France and also the Netherlands. “Japan started vaccinating late, because the government first wanted to test whether the vaccines were safe for the Japanese population. That caused a lot of delay, but company programs have now managed to get more than a million shots a day. “
The Japanese are careful when dealing with others. “You can still feel the fear. The restaurants are allowed to open, but the customers do not return in hordes. People still stay inside. On the street, almost everyone still wears mouth caps.”
Japan has seven times more inhabitants than the Netherlands, but about as many corona infections and deaths as the Netherlands.
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