by Franklin Xue
Japan’s first case of a novel coronavirus was confirmed on January 16th 2020, with the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare informing the World Health Organization that the affected had travelled to Wuhan, China. It was the second case of COVID-19 in Asia outside of China. (1)
On February 4th, Japanese authorities announced the quarantine of the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohoma due to confirmed cases in passengers on the vessel. Put under quarantine for two weeks, at least 705 people contracted the virus. On February 27th, Dr. Norio Ohmagari, director of the Disease Control and Prevention Center at the government’s National Center for Global Health and Medicine, admits quarantine measures aboard the Princess Diamond were not perfect. (2)
March 24th: Abe announces an agreement with the International Olympic Committee to postpone the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo to 2021. (3)
On April 1st, prime minister Shinzo announces a government plan to distribute two reusable cloth face masks to every Japanese household, claiming the provision “will be helpful in responding to the rapidly increasing demand.” The announcement elicited a backlash online, with the public outrage and mockery of the provision indicating a belief that the measure would not effectively curb the spread of the virus. (4)
April 7th: Abe declares a month-long state of emergency for Tokyo and six other prefectures in the face of a rise of cases. By that time, Japan had reached 3,906 confirmed cases, double the amount from the previous week. “The declaration will depend largely on voluntary compliance, and Mr. Abe emphasized that it was not a lockdown, and that public transit would continue. Prefectural governors can only request that people work from home and avoid going out.” (5)
April 16th: Abe expands the state of emergency nationwide, and announces plans for stimulus funds of 100,000 yen (approx. $930) each for Japanese citizens. (6)
April 27th: Tokyo reports its lowest daily level of new coronavirus cases in more than three weeks despite its relaxed measures (in comparison to the penalty-induced lockdown measures of other foreign nations) and a low level of less than 10,000 tests per day. Thus far, Japan has reported 13, 385 infections and 351 deaths nationwide. Following Abe’s announcement of a state of emergency, pedestrian numbers had fallen sharply in city centers. (7)
May 14th: Abe lifts the state of emergency imposed in 39 out of 47 prefectures, announcing that the nation’s rate of infection has decreased to one seventh of its peak. The state of emergency is still imposed in regions like Tokyo, Osaka, and Hokkaido where new cases are still emerging daily. Abe expressed his hopes that the state of emergency could be lifted in the remaining regions by May 31st. (8)
Sources
(1) https://www.who.int/csr/don/16-january-2020-novel-coronavirus-japan-ex-china/en/
(2) https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/27/asia/japan-diamond-princess-quarantine-crew-intl-hnk/index.html
(3) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/sports/olympics/coronavirus-summer-olympics-postponed.html
(4) https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/asia/japan-coronavirus-shinzo-abe-masks-hnk-intl/index.html
(5) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/world/asia/japan-coronavirus-emergency.html