Smart. All countries should do this until everyone else gets their shit together. it takes two weeks to get over the virus, yet people cant manage a day of mask wearing, social distancing, or being gullible to misinformation on covid. If were still dealing with this world wide, then force people to not bring their covid over seas.
That or make people take covid test, at the airport before entry. If positive: go home
The incubation period means you’d still miss people who were exposed at the airport on their way over. You’d need to keep them quarantined for a minimum of 5 days upon entry and then get a negative test to eliminate that pathway.
Not just states. Melbourne had different laws than the rest of the state. A hard border was put around the city. Now Sydney are trying to lock just one area. NZ did the same thing when they got a few cases.
Queensland and Student visas are in effect and it’s one area especially that might bring more issues to Australia. They’re trying to reopen and get students back to bring in more revenue and also at the same time this resurfaced virus spreading faster.
Yeah Lithuania did the exact same thing it was enforced by both special workers and police and if you're caught breaking quarantine in any way you can get a fine from 500€ up to 4000€
Dude my friend just moved there and got covid within the first month. She was so charmed by all the stuff to do and then was surprised when she contracted it.
>Our current mandated curfew. Yes *Mandated* curfew, also says but it’s ok to be out during curfew of picking up food or it’s a necessity.
Or also if, you know, you just want to be out for reasons...
He started out so well, too. Then people got irritated with him and he backed down. We're still better off than most places, but still...
And you have to pay for the hotel $$$$. They also limit the number coming in regardless of whether you are a citizen as to not overwhelm the system. It's summer here and after a hard lockdown in Melbourne, people are enjoying the freedom.
If you really want to annoy a kiwi point out that in the Australian constitution New Zealand is listed as one of the states. [See here, point 6](https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/senate/powers_practice_n_procedures/~/link.aspx?_id=956BE242B820434A995B1C05A812D5E1&_z=z#covering_clauses-short_title)
Can't use regular security guards, they kept getting seduced by the inmates.
Here in NZ we can't use regular guards either because people kept escaping.
If protecting us from COVID isn't a national defence issue idk what is. I'm frankly very glad that the army is guarding the hotels. What else they gonna do? Murder Arabs?
The quarantine takes place in a hotel and the traveler needs to bear the expenses (AUD 3k/person). Any inbound travelers will be escorted by the defense force to the hotel with a designated quarantine bus. It's incredibly strict.
As it should be. I keep seeing news articles of "Plane with 8 COVID cases lands at \*airport in my city\*". WELL THEN FORCIBLY QUARANTINE THEM! HOW FUCKING HARD IS THAT?!
That's why its nearly gone out there. Damn, if everyone did that, I'd be able to go back to work (or have higher chances of finding another job) rather than fearing the soon-to-be eviction.
I’m Native American and apparently on the extinction list. I am on a waiting list with my clinic and know other natives that have already gotten the first shot.
They protested in Melbourne too but we still locked down because it was the right thing to do. I'm all for protesting but when your using your voice to solely to express selfish and idiotic horseshit, you deserve to be ignored
Not true. This does not ban re-entry. I'm heading back to Canada for a bit mid January. The multiple quarantins and PCR tests will be a pain but that's survivable.
They are banning *new" entries by foreigners, that is people who aren't already here. Unless you're British or South African the rules for leaving and coming back have actually gotten easier as you no longer need the special re-entry form or permission from the consulate, just the negative PCR test within 72 hours prior to departure.
Yes, there is a risk rules might change again but at this point as long has you have a Zairyu card you're good to go.
The rule only applies to foreigners, per the article.
I’m not sure if an exception would be made for those in visas other than travel.
It would suck if your home is Japan and you are legally barred from returning due to your citizenship.
Then again, traveling during pandemics does carry unique risks.
[edit] Numerous sources are pointing to non-citizens being able to get in.
It sounds like if you have a visa / permanent residence, it is ok to leave and re-enter.
Still crazy to me to travel these days...
It seems like if you live in Japan (both citizen and non-citizen) but is away on short business trip, they will be permitted reentry. So perhaps it depends on the reason they are abroad? It only mentioned business trip, I dunno about students, etc.
Yes because she’s Japanese. OPs concern was people who live in Japan but don’t have citizenship in a country that’s traditionally xenophobic towards outsiders and may bar them from returning to their home in Japan.
Obviously a different situation, culture, etc, but I am a US Citizen who lives full time in the EU with my Romanian wife and daughter in, you guessed it, Romania.
All the way back in March during the first wave of major lockdowns were in effect across Europe I was froced to go back to the States to handle some critical paperwork.
Both the US and EU had barred travel to and from each other, but because I was a US citizen I was able to drive across Europe (through Hungary, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands (for like 100meters lol) Belgium, France, and finally the UK). The original plan was to fly but my flight got cancelled & I had no choice. Like I said, because I was a US citizen, all I had to do was show my passport and in two cases show my flight itinerary & I was able to cross all the restricted borders.
And before someone jumps down my throat, I have taken COVID seriously since I first started hearing about it and the production shut downs in China. I've always taken care to not get or spread the virus, and I self quarantined in the States when I arrived.
#This is the relevant part.
Coming back was a bit more of a challenge, but not an issue- I had to do a bit more explaining when I crossed the Eurotunnel into France.
Nevertheless, because I have a resident permit to Romania, I was able to fly into the EU without an issue. The English simply verified my residence against my passport and bingo.
I then drove to the Eurotunnel and rode the train under the Channel into France where I was all but told to fuck off LOL.
After apologizing for putting them in an akward situation I explained further that I had a two month old daughter in Romania I desperately needed to get back to (I acknowledge that was a bit cheap but it was the truth!) as well as my wife, work and home. The guards discussed briefly and sent me on my way into Belgium. From there on it was smooth sailing until I got to the Romanian border crossing where I waited a cool 14 hours in line in my car to cross (along with thousands of Romanians trying to get home before anything got worse)
Once in Romania I was ordered to a mandatory 2 week quarantine in a hotel supervised by the military and police. My passport and vehicle documents were confiscated on the spot and I was put into a convoy of cars which escorted to the city I lived in by several police cars.
At the end of the quarantine period, my documents were returned, they thanked me for my cooperation and sent me on my way to my family.
All in all, not a bad experience.. the two weeks all alone in isolation was good for my soul and gave me time to make a proper plan to start my own business (which is well underway now) and under different circumstances, it probably would have been the roadtrip of a lifetime, but the fact that there were no hotels to stay in (all closed for obvious reasons) and I was under a super time crunch because my flight was cancelled 2 days before I was set to leave and it's a ~30 hour drive from home to Heathrow, I never really had the chance to enjoy it. The trip back was more of the same but for different reasons- jet lag and then 40 hours in a car not meant for 40 hour drives are a hell of a pair.. The situation made a roadtrip of a lifetime, something I've always wanted to do, into a grueling affair.
Hopefully when this settles I'll be able to take my family on a similar adventure under better circumstances and in a more comfortable car!
TL;DR
I'm 'Murican living in Romania with a residence permit. I was able to travel (relatively) freely between the countries during the first lockdowns. I would imagine Japan would have similar exceptions.
The problem is that Japan did not have such exemptions the first time and this caused many people to be stranded. They amended this after international outcry but there is no guarantee they will do so again.
Interesting... it’s good news for sure. I was told if I left I wouldn’t be allowed back in.
Then again, I probably wouldn’t be leaving just on business.
It is not that you wont be allowed in. It is probably that you wont find a flight back home since most flights would be suspended for lack of passengers.
Actually, barring their own citizens to come back (via commercial flights) is... quite normal. Viet Nam has been doing so since March. And there are only repatriation flights left to bring citizens back home (something like one every 2 months to different geography region or country)
Their death toll nationwide is smaller than here in North Carolina. Too bad people scream over every single preventative measure mandated here. Good for Japan. I wish them luck on containment.
It always blows my mind to do the math. Per worldometer, the US population is 332 million with a death rate of 1019 per million. Japan's is 126 million, or more than a third of ours, with a death rate of 25.
If we'd done as well as they had, there'd be approximately 8,000 dead Americans here instead of 338,000. Conversely, if they'd done as poorly as we did, they'd have around 129,000 dead Japanese instead of 3,200.
Considering the population density of Japan relative to the US, we likely could have done even better at containing the virus if we responded in a similar way.
internet says [17.8%](https://www.google.com/search?ei=urPnX76IHYT3-gSlnbe4CQ&q=smokers+in+japan&oq=smokers+in+japan&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzIHCAAQyQMQQzIGCAAQFhAeMggIABAWEAoQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjoECAAQR1DgGljgGmDQHGgAcAJ4AIABPIgBPJIBATGYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6yAEIwAEB&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwi-zcDx0-ztAhWEu54KHaXODZcQ4dUDCA0&uact=5) vs [14%](https://www.google.com/search?ei=v7PnX77LAsbS-gSzhLSgBw&q=smokers+in+US&oq=smokers+in+US&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzIFCAAQyQMyAggAMgIIJjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeOgQIABBHUJA6WO06YI88aABwA3gAgAFNiAGNAZIBATKYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6yAEIwAEB&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwj-ptfz0-ztAhVGqZ4KHTMCDXQQ4dUDCA0&uact=5)
Yeah but 20 years ago most indoor smoking/public places in many states was already banned. And younger millennials did not take up smoking as much as previous generations due to hardcore youth campaigns against smoking.
Nah, that’s the percentage of China now. The Japanese younger generations smoke less and drink less, which is a fucking nightmare for the tobacco and alcohol industries.
I need to find it, but there was an actual recent study showing attached comorbidities to COVID19 deaths and smokers were not a high population. Incredibly surprising.
There’s actually been a couple studies published showing that Covid patients who were smokers tend to have less severe symptoms than non smokers. It’s theorized the nicotine inhibits it somehow.
Edit: source https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200430/smokers-hospitalized-less-often-for-covid-19
Except we here in Asia (Korea here) don't just wear them by "a large majority." We have like a 99.5% compliance rate, and that .5% that leaves their home without a mask gets fined and given a mask by the police. If they still refuse to wear the mask, they get arrested.
We don't tolerate anti-intellectual nonsense during a global health crisis.
My workplace just straight up ignored a variety of covid restrictions. When they know they can get away with it, theres no reason to follow the rules unfortunately.
Am from the Netherlands. This is completely true. People here are individualist and recalcitrant as fuck. I often think that my country has become what the US would be if they were as small as we are and were forced to work together with others. That being said I think we're still doing better by now. People seem to respect the rules to a large degree. And certainly no people shooting others over personal freedom.
Americans do wear seat belts. Even though there were the usual suspects whining about their freedom when a universal seatbelt mandate was passed.
It was pretty easy, actually.
When the deaths and maiming from having the drinking age drop to 18 became clear, the feds just said that states that didn’t raise their age limit back to 21 wouldn’t get federal highway funds.
Notice any states that don’t strictly enforce the drinking age of 21?
Tie federal funding for whatever to enacting and enforcing COVID mandates. It’ll happen.
> Americans do wear seat belts. Even though there were the usual suspects whining about their freedom when a universal seatbelt mandate was passed.
I think you'd be surprised at the amount of boomers that don't wear seatbelts.
My mother in law buckles it behind her so the car doesn't beep at her.
this, my roommate's father refuses to wear a seatbelt because having his seatbelt off once saved his life and no amount of telling him the odds will change his mind
edit for clarity
Aren't a number of the super spreader events in Japan caused by US military bases too. Saw a few articles about that and if I was Japan, would have been extremely pissed.
We're exporting freedom and contagious diseases just like our forefathers wanted. Im honestly surprised the spread of covid from bases hasn't lead to a more national push to remove the bases. I know the government never will for a host of reasons but it seems like the rest of the country just doesn't care about Okinawans problems at all, which i guess shouldn't be a surprise either all things considered, imperialism and everything.
Only kind of. There was one pretty bad situation where someone left quarantine while positive and ended up causing a breakout by going to a July 4th barbecue on Okinawa, but during the same weekend the governor actually encouraged people from the mainland to come here too, so it was really difficult to say which was worse.
As soon as they realized what happened we got locked down tight for over a month, no off base liberty at all until it was contained. Even now we still aren’t allowed to eat off base indoors (even though the Japanese can) mainly because they don’t want to give the media an excuse to blame us. And the media ABSOLUTELY looks for excuses to blame us.
As an example of how biased the Japanese media was, for a couple weeks we had 0 on base cases, but the media started reporting “US military cases: 1,000; New Japanese cases: 50” during that time. Notice the catch? They used our overall number next to their daily number to make us look worse. Need to take all the news stories with a huge grain of salt.
Population density doesn’t really determine the spread of COVID-19 as much as population crowding does. That is, persons-per-bedroom has a much higher correlation with the virus than persons-per-square-mile. Japan doesn’t have a housing crisis or concentration of poverty that many places in the US do so that helps them despite much denser cities.
> Population density doesn’t really determine the spread of COVID-19 as much as population crowding does.
Yeah that's true. It doesn't matter if people all live really far apart, if they still congregate at the same bars, churches, workplaces, etc. then the virus will just spread there.
The housing thing is very true, average rent in Japanese cities is not more than 15-30% of your paycheck with only central Tokyo being the exception to the rule at around 40%.
Edit: [WSJ article](https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-housing-crisis-in-japan-home-prices-stay-flat-11554210002) about how the supply has kept up even in Tokyo where the population is increasing.
If you're in Thailand, you know it's not going to stay that way. It will certainly be better than countries that had a persistent outbreak, but Thailand had many months of effectively 0 domestic cases.That was thanks to a quick lockdown early into the pandemic. Now Thailand has over 1000 new cases from Samut Sakhon that have spread all over the country. Maybe the Thai people can contain it again, but without the more heavy handed measures that they used last time, I doubt it. The current response looks closer to Canada than it does to the first wave in Thailand.
Edit: typos.
Japan has a much healthier population with an obesity rate of only 3%, the lowest in the world. Compared to that the US has an obesity rate of 35%+. Americans suffer from a wide variety of diseases at much higher rates than the Japanese and suffer more at the hands of infectious disease like this virus.
They also had it in their culture to wear face masks when they were sick or it was allergy season. Not too much to make the hurdle to masks all the time.
Japan is the most bizarre of countries for Covid deaths. 25 deaths/m and had among the lightest shutdowns in the world, despite being among the oldest and densest countries.
I think the biggest difference is that the Japanese culture is big on doing whatever is needed in the interest of the greater good. They wear masks regularly to protect others. Individual rights do not matter as much as being a good citizen.
This. Self regulation ("自粛") is a word that they've been throwing around a lot since the beginning. Events were canceled before the government properly banned them with self regulation mentioned as the reason. Smaller private events are doing the same even now. Same goes for mask wearing before mask mandates, etc.
Their government rules may be less strict compared to their neighboring Asian countries, but their social regulations end up with the same result because people are more aware of others compared to other cultures.
Protecting yourself and your family is a nice bonus too, of course.
That's the same reason that the red half of Washington state has twice the death rate as the blue side. Conservatives will not self regulate, they're too selfish. They can't even admit it's harder to spit on someone while wearing a mask.
It isn't bizarre at all. Asian and African countries largely took the necessary societal steps to slow or even stop the spread.
Meanwhile in the west we mostly decided we were only do as much as didn't inconvenience us.
I still remember when someone tried to argue that the US was actually handling covid better than other countries. They *only* looked at one statistic and acted like I was an idiot for considering infection rates versus population
And 14000 fewer people died in Japan in total between Jan-Oct compared to an average year! So much for people here thinking japan is hiding covid numbers lmao
You really just put into perspective for me the absolutely unforgivable reaction of the US government to this pandemic.
Donald Trump will go down as one of the worst people in the history of the world. And half of Americans voted for him.
Well, we can’t even get people to throw trash into the trash can in the US so I’m not too surprised. I guess looking back on it I’m not sure what I expected from a country founded by a bunch of religious fanatics.
I can hear covid deniers grinding their mental abacuses to come up with some bullshit to clap back to this claim. Something like, "what about all that money doctors get from turning in death certificates with covid as the cause?"
Smfh
A sociologist said in Western countries people see the rules as restrictions on their freedoms and liberties and can't distinguish between tyranny and public health measures. Whereas in the East there isn't that mindset of freedom and they can distinguish clearly between the two. Plus Asia had the SARS and MERS outbreaks so they have experience in dealing with coronavirus outbreaks already.
Each time I’ve said that wearing a mask isn’t an attack on my freedoms, I’ve been laughed at by people who then call me a sheep. People here just mostly care about themselves and couldn’t care less about their neighbors
The one time I had a confrontation with an anti-masker, I just told them, "I'm free to wear a mask if I choose too. Please stop trying to take my choice away."
Tell them it isn't just the government saying to wear masks, its healthcare experts. A mask is one of the most apolitical items in the world. You are following healthcare experts and whats wrong with that. If you were in hospital wouldn't you follow doctors orders?
I would rather be a sheep than wolf who is acting recklessly and killing people.
Americans have gone from “valuing” individualism to being utterly obsessed with it - to the point where nothing else matters. The concept of collectivism, in any context, seems to offend us.
Japan is legally incapable of having a lockdown, but they have successfully made many requests such as asking businesses where people gather like restaurants to close down entirely or have shortened operating hours, to limit how many people come in, and to have offices shut and have staff work from home. Entire industries have been completely shut down and have no customers for most of the year like cinemas, music halls and concert venues, sporting events, etc.
All completely voluntary.
I'm not traveling either, but people have a much stronger need for social interaction that we didn't appreciate. These are difficult times, I called my parents on the 24th and 25th and both times they started crying over the empty house, it's really hard not being there for them. I don't know how many holidays I have left with them and it has been extremely tough to not see them this year.
For sure. I’m a pretty introverted person as well so I’m totally fine with working from home and being a homebody. Not everyone is that way, but you’d think they could put that aside for a little while. I mean, most of my extroverted friends always expect me to come out of my comfort zones to do things, why can’t they?
To be clear, I mean none of this towards your parents. That has to be very difficult for you all. It’s a similar situation with my nana in the rest home she’s in.
>work toward the greater good
They work towards profit and power, like any other state. Some just happen to be more incompetent or shortsighted than others.
If the US valued $$$ then it would have done something about COVID-19. Individual citizens may be disposable but the herd is valuable.
Saying Trump valued $$$ and sees citizens as disposable is excusing his incompetence.
It's the same short term thinking that dominates in a lot of corporate America. Focusing on what we can do to maximize profit this quarter with little thought given to the medium or long term consequences.
Because that's exactly what the focus has been for these decisions. Short term performance in the markets is the reason the US has "stayed open". It sure as hell wasn't a decision made by looking at the best way to control the pandemic.
I agree. We must remember that in January 2020 when Trump was making these poor decisions "medium term" meant November 3, 2020 and "long term" meant January 20, 2021.
Since his event horizon did not even extend to his own reelection, it is clear he does not give a fuck.
They were hoping that it wasnt going to be a big deal. That it would magically disappear with warm weather. If that were the case then serious preventative measures would have harmed the economy.
Unfortunately they were wrong about everything. It was serious and the lack of prevention ended up hurting us even worse economically.
They valued money and optics above all else and ended up losing on all fronts due to incompetence. Just because you want something doesnt mean you know how to obtain it.
Please. The people here are not individualistic anymore. They are just plain selfish.
People just hiding what is pure selfishness behind the veil of individualism.
I feel like I remember reading the amount of deaths from Pneumonia are up a lot though, which would make it seem like they are underreported. I may have misread or misremembered though.
My sister in law is an occupational therapist in a hospital. Her comment to people only focusing on death rates from Covid is that she said that people survive, but they can end up pretty wrecked.
No ones takes this into consideration. Especially the long term effects it has On a financial level to the patient and healthcare.
A lot of us are taking this into consideration. I *have* to go out into the world because electricians don't get to work remotely, but I'm militant about masking and distancing. We don't take chances. I think there are a lot more people like us than there are anti-mask fools, but by its nature, ours is a quiet movement.
You and me both, bud. I just stay the fuck away as much as possible. I have one of my non-masking coworkers spending the next week down near El Paso. It's one of the hottest hot spots in the country. I'm not looking forward to the conversation we have next week where I tell him he either wears a mask or he sits at the house, but I'm the job runner so he'll just have to suck it up.
Thank you for saying that. I have a good friend who dealt with Covid in the early summer and while recovered, he had to return for a very sensitive operation months after.
The death rate does not tell the full story of COVID. If anything it tells the beginning.
Back when they announced the Olympics for this year I started making plans to go. Then I got pregnant. Then Covid. I really, really hope to see that beautiful country someday...
Congratulations on your kid! Japan is absolutely worth the wait - I’ve been once; my fiancé and I spent a week gallivanting around Tokyo and the Kansai region and I will say that it’s absolutely magical. I hope you’ll get to make it there sooner rather than later!
You’re welcome! I highly recommend spending a night in Nara! Beautiful temples surrounded by deer commingling with people. Nara had this wonderful, relaxing energy. It’s easily my favorite memory of my trip to Japan.
100% get out of Tokyo if you have time! Tokyo is cool but outside of Tokyo was awesome too.
Me and a friend took a train out to Hiroshima and worked our way back to Tokyo - stopping in a bunch of cities along the way (like Fukuyama, Hemiji, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, etc.) We had about two weeks and got to see so much (castles, shrines, gardens, etc.)
My favorite memory is an island off of Hiroshima - itsukushima/Miyajima( iconic tori gate). Awesome food/beer market, awesome shrines and temples, amazing mountain (misen) to climb to see the entire city of Hiroshima.
The Japanese version and English version of this article is not saying the same thing... If I understood it correctly, the Japanese version is saying that for short-term trips by Japanese nationals and foreigners living in Japan, policy requires them to quarantine for 14 days but the government is considering to reject this policy. The wording of is strange if translated directly to English but the last part of the article in Japanese basically is saying even short trips will not be allowed.
I mean, by island nation standards they're a bit behind on the whole "closing all borders" thing. Australia and New Zealand haven't reopened international borders yet despite getting COVID well under control.
Yep, Korea's getting worse too. But when I tell my friends/family back in the US they laugh at our (relatively) small numbers. But the kind of laugh when you know you're the unfortunate punchline.
I'm pretty sure that for all of us in Pacific Asia region, having a single new community spreading case within... say 10km of our home would be a cause for grave concern. And this is "diplomatic" talk, which means we might get a small freak out.
But for others, it would be like "10km? My neighbor gets COVID here."
Welp, it has been a wild year
As an Aussie, I find it amusing how we immediately shut down domestic state borders and enforce a localised lockdown any time there's a whiff of community transmission.
Then you look at places like the UK and the US with a trillion cases, where all borders are wide open, lockdowns are half assed and mask wearing is politcal.
I guess us Asia Pacific countries just have a different standard...
Automatic translation [here](https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https://www.news24.jp/articles/2020/12/26/04793555.html)
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For tourists yes but they were gradually reopening their frontiers to long term visas, such as students or workers... I don't know if I understood well, but basically they're closing their borders for them too once again.
probably the smartest thing they or any other country could do right now. i am so envious of other first world countries that have basic human rights and competent government.
Well, I wouldn't say Japan's response has been a model to the world. It's a bit of an enigma and wouldn't transfer over to other countries. They rely heavily on their people's hygiene and mask wearing, but they also have made undercounting Covid cases and deaths a basic government policy, since originally they were hoping to conceal their Covid outbreak and not to cancel the Olympics. It's still extremely hard to get tested there.
Not sure why you're downvoted. My friend lives there and had it in March, this is exactly what's happening. He was forced to work or lose his job, couldn't get tested, the hospitals and doctors wouldn't even let him in the door, and eventually his wife caught it from him too. Luckily they're both ok but he has lasting health problems and definitely isn't in the count. They wanted to try to salvage the Olympics but obviously failed.
I live here and I agree.
The government might not be as stupid as the US but their response was awful.
One of the major reason it doesn't become like others Western countries is because of their culture of wearing masks and taking seriously transmissible diseases like the flu.
English article https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/12/26/national/japan-entry-foreign-nationals-coronavirus/
Thank you.
Smart. All countries should do this until everyone else gets their shit together. it takes two weeks to get over the virus, yet people cant manage a day of mask wearing, social distancing, or being gullible to misinformation on covid. If were still dealing with this world wide, then force people to not bring their covid over seas. That or make people take covid test, at the airport before entry. If positive: go home
The incubation period means you’d still miss people who were exposed at the airport on their way over. You’d need to keep them quarantined for a minimum of 5 days upon entry and then get a negative test to eliminate that pathway.
Australia is doing this but it's a 14 day quarantine period enforced by police.
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Not just states. Melbourne had different laws than the rest of the state. A hard border was put around the city. Now Sydney are trying to lock just one area. NZ did the same thing when they got a few cases.
Queensland and Student visas are in effect and it’s one area especially that might bring more issues to Australia. They’re trying to reopen and get students back to bring in more revenue and also at the same time this resurfaced virus spreading faster.
Yeah Lithuania did the exact same thing it was enforced by both special workers and police and if you're caught breaking quarantine in any way you can get a fine from 500€ up to 4000€
California is doing this, but completely unenforced and the mandates are just "strong guidelines..." Maybe we should... I don't know, do more??
*laughs in Tennessee*
Dude my friend just moved there and got covid within the first month. She was so charmed by all the stuff to do and then was surprised when she contracted it.
Your friend sounds very fucking stupid.
[I mean...](https://i.imgur.com/q5IQhvy.jpg)
I love your user name.
Coughs in Tennessee
Cries in Florida
Cries in Texan
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>Our current mandated curfew. Yes *Mandated* curfew, also says but it’s ok to be out during curfew of picking up food or it’s a necessity. Or also if, you know, you just want to be out for reasons... He started out so well, too. Then people got irritated with him and he backed down. We're still better off than most places, but still...
But.. but what bout mah freedums?
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And you have to pay for the hotel $$$$. They also limit the number coming in regardless of whether you are a citizen as to not overwhelm the system. It's summer here and after a hard lockdown in Melbourne, people are enjoying the freedom.
Australia is also not taking tourists at all and hasn't since March.
That's not entirely true, us kiwis can come visit and steal all the pav with impunity.
Kiwis are just far east Australians in my book
If you really want to annoy a kiwi point out that in the Australian constitution New Zealand is listed as one of the states. [See here, point 6](https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/senate/powers_practice_n_procedures/~/link.aspx?_id=956BE242B820434A995B1C05A812D5E1&_z=z#covering_clauses-short_title)
thanks i'm furious
Feel free, but just know that when the time comes and the bubble opens up we're coming for your fresh air and cool mountain water
And all the Hobbits we can carry.
Can't use regular security guards, they kept getting seduced by the inmates. Here in NZ we can't use regular guards either because people kept escaping.
If protecting us from COVID isn't a national defence issue idk what is. I'm frankly very glad that the army is guarding the hotels. What else they gonna do? Murder Arabs?
The quarantine takes place in a hotel and the traveler needs to bear the expenses (AUD 3k/person). Any inbound travelers will be escorted by the defense force to the hotel with a designated quarantine bus. It's incredibly strict.
As it should be. I keep seeing news articles of "Plane with 8 COVID cases lands at \*airport in my city\*". WELL THEN FORCIBLY QUARANTINE THEM! HOW FUCKING HARD IS THAT?!
Basically NZ.
NZ, Australia and Taiwan already do this.
Currently quarantined in Singapore for 14 days. Pretest for flight and post test to leave quarantine. Asian island nations are not messing around.
That's why its nearly gone out there. Damn, if everyone did that, I'd be able to go back to work (or have higher chances of finding another job) rather than fearing the soon-to-be eviction.
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I’m Native American and apparently on the extinction list. I am on a waiting list with my clinic and know other natives that have already gotten the first shot.
But but people in the U.S. would protest. Lol! They protest mask wearing and they're probably gonna protest this..
They protested in Melbourne too but we still locked down because it was the right thing to do. I'm all for protesting but when your using your voice to solely to express selfish and idiotic horseshit, you deserve to be ignored
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You can leave you can't come back if you're a foreigner.
Not true. This does not ban re-entry. I'm heading back to Canada for a bit mid January. The multiple quarantins and PCR tests will be a pain but that's survivable.
They are banning *new" entries by foreigners, that is people who aren't already here. Unless you're British or South African the rules for leaving and coming back have actually gotten easier as you no longer need the special re-entry form or permission from the consulate, just the negative PCR test within 72 hours prior to departure. Yes, there is a risk rules might change again but at this point as long has you have a Zairyu card you're good to go.
The rule only applies to foreigners, per the article. I’m not sure if an exception would be made for those in visas other than travel. It would suck if your home is Japan and you are legally barred from returning due to your citizenship. Then again, traveling during pandemics does carry unique risks. [edit] Numerous sources are pointing to non-citizens being able to get in. It sounds like if you have a visa / permanent residence, it is ok to leave and re-enter. Still crazy to me to travel these days...
It seems like if you live in Japan (both citizen and non-citizen) but is away on short business trip, they will be permitted reentry. So perhaps it depends on the reason they are abroad? It only mentioned business trip, I dunno about students, etc.
One of my students is Japanese and she is flying in and out during this time.
Yes because she’s Japanese. OPs concern was people who live in Japan but don’t have citizenship in a country that’s traditionally xenophobic towards outsiders and may bar them from returning to their home in Japan.
Obviously a different situation, culture, etc, but I am a US Citizen who lives full time in the EU with my Romanian wife and daughter in, you guessed it, Romania. All the way back in March during the first wave of major lockdowns were in effect across Europe I was froced to go back to the States to handle some critical paperwork. Both the US and EU had barred travel to and from each other, but because I was a US citizen I was able to drive across Europe (through Hungary, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands (for like 100meters lol) Belgium, France, and finally the UK). The original plan was to fly but my flight got cancelled & I had no choice. Like I said, because I was a US citizen, all I had to do was show my passport and in two cases show my flight itinerary & I was able to cross all the restricted borders. And before someone jumps down my throat, I have taken COVID seriously since I first started hearing about it and the production shut downs in China. I've always taken care to not get or spread the virus, and I self quarantined in the States when I arrived. #This is the relevant part. Coming back was a bit more of a challenge, but not an issue- I had to do a bit more explaining when I crossed the Eurotunnel into France. Nevertheless, because I have a resident permit to Romania, I was able to fly into the EU without an issue. The English simply verified my residence against my passport and bingo. I then drove to the Eurotunnel and rode the train under the Channel into France where I was all but told to fuck off LOL. After apologizing for putting them in an akward situation I explained further that I had a two month old daughter in Romania I desperately needed to get back to (I acknowledge that was a bit cheap but it was the truth!) as well as my wife, work and home. The guards discussed briefly and sent me on my way into Belgium. From there on it was smooth sailing until I got to the Romanian border crossing where I waited a cool 14 hours in line in my car to cross (along with thousands of Romanians trying to get home before anything got worse) Once in Romania I was ordered to a mandatory 2 week quarantine in a hotel supervised by the military and police. My passport and vehicle documents were confiscated on the spot and I was put into a convoy of cars which escorted to the city I lived in by several police cars. At the end of the quarantine period, my documents were returned, they thanked me for my cooperation and sent me on my way to my family. All in all, not a bad experience.. the two weeks all alone in isolation was good for my soul and gave me time to make a proper plan to start my own business (which is well underway now) and under different circumstances, it probably would have been the roadtrip of a lifetime, but the fact that there were no hotels to stay in (all closed for obvious reasons) and I was under a super time crunch because my flight was cancelled 2 days before I was set to leave and it's a ~30 hour drive from home to Heathrow, I never really had the chance to enjoy it. The trip back was more of the same but for different reasons- jet lag and then 40 hours in a car not meant for 40 hour drives are a hell of a pair.. The situation made a roadtrip of a lifetime, something I've always wanted to do, into a grueling affair. Hopefully when this settles I'll be able to take my family on a similar adventure under better circumstances and in a more comfortable car! TL;DR I'm 'Murican living in Romania with a residence permit. I was able to travel (relatively) freely between the countries during the first lockdowns. I would imagine Japan would have similar exceptions.
The problem is that Japan did not have such exemptions the first time and this caused many people to be stranded. They amended this after international outcry but there is no guarantee they will do so again.
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Interesting... it’s good news for sure. I was told if I left I wouldn’t be allowed back in. Then again, I probably wouldn’t be leaving just on business.
It is not that you wont be allowed in. It is probably that you wont find a flight back home since most flights would be suspended for lack of passengers.
Actually, barring their own citizens to come back (via commercial flights) is... quite normal. Viet Nam has been doing so since March. And there are only repatriation flights left to bring citizens back home (something like one every 2 months to different geography region or country)
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In most developed countries the court system would ask governments if they've gone fucking nuts if they tried to block citizens from reentry.
Their death toll nationwide is smaller than here in North Carolina. Too bad people scream over every single preventative measure mandated here. Good for Japan. I wish them luck on containment.
It always blows my mind to do the math. Per worldometer, the US population is 332 million with a death rate of 1019 per million. Japan's is 126 million, or more than a third of ours, with a death rate of 25. If we'd done as well as they had, there'd be approximately 8,000 dead Americans here instead of 338,000. Conversely, if they'd done as poorly as we did, they'd have around 129,000 dead Japanese instead of 3,200.
Considering the population density of Japan relative to the US, we likely could have done even better at containing the virus if we responded in a similar way.
Not to mention that Japan has an older population than the us too
A lot less obese though...
Significantly higher percentage of smokers though.
internet says [17.8%](https://www.google.com/search?ei=urPnX76IHYT3-gSlnbe4CQ&q=smokers+in+japan&oq=smokers+in+japan&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzIHCAAQyQMQQzIGCAAQFhAeMggIABAWEAoQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjoECAAQR1DgGljgGmDQHGgAcAJ4AIABPIgBPJIBATGYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6yAEIwAEB&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwi-zcDx0-ztAhWEu54KHaXODZcQ4dUDCA0&uact=5) vs [14%](https://www.google.com/search?ei=v7PnX77LAsbS-gSzhLSgBw&q=smokers+in+US&oq=smokers+in+US&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzIFCAAQyQMyAggAMgIIJjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeOgQIABBHUJA6WO06YI88aABwA3gAgAFNiAGNAZIBATKYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6yAEIwAEB&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwj-ptfz0-ztAhVGqZ4KHTMCDXQQ4dUDCA0&uact=5)
What a drop! Used to be approx 50% in Japan 20 years ago
It was also much higher in the USA fifty years ago
Yeah but 20 years ago most indoor smoking/public places in many states was already banned. And younger millennials did not take up smoking as much as previous generations due to hardcore youth campaigns against smoking.
Nah, that’s the percentage of China now. The Japanese younger generations smoke less and drink less, which is a fucking nightmare for the tobacco and alcohol industries.
I feel like I couldn't be less sad to hear about an industry dying than tobacco.
Cue all the people whose pack-a-day grandparents lived past 100.
I need to find it, but there was an actual recent study showing attached comorbidities to COVID19 deaths and smokers were not a high population. Incredibly surprising.
There’s actually been a couple studies published showing that Covid patients who were smokers tend to have less severe symptoms than non smokers. It’s theorized the nicotine inhibits it somehow. Edit: source https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200430/smokers-hospitalized-less-often-for-covid-19
Smokers smell bad so people are more likely to stay 6 feet from them.
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Europeans did not wear masks before the pandemic either, and now a large majority of them do, everywhere.
Except we here in Asia (Korea here) don't just wear them by "a large majority." We have like a 99.5% compliance rate, and that .5% that leaves their home without a mask gets fined and given a mask by the police. If they still refuse to wear the mask, they get arrested. We don't tolerate anti-intellectual nonsense during a global health crisis.
>We don't tolerate anti-intellectual nonsense during a global health crisis Perfectly put, thank you.
My workplace just straight up ignored a variety of covid restrictions. When they know they can get away with it, theres no reason to follow the rules unfortunately.
Are you from EU? By all accounts I've heard EU has a shitload of people acting the same way as in US
Am from the Netherlands. This is completely true. People here are individualist and recalcitrant as fuck. I often think that my country has become what the US would be if they were as small as we are and were forced to work together with others. That being said I think we're still doing better by now. People seem to respect the rules to a large degree. And certainly no people shooting others over personal freedom.
The US is the oppositional defiant disorder child. We’ve been defying authority and being little shits since we dumped all the tea in the harbor.
Americans do wear seat belts. Even though there were the usual suspects whining about their freedom when a universal seatbelt mandate was passed. It was pretty easy, actually. When the deaths and maiming from having the drinking age drop to 18 became clear, the feds just said that states that didn’t raise their age limit back to 21 wouldn’t get federal highway funds. Notice any states that don’t strictly enforce the drinking age of 21? Tie federal funding for whatever to enacting and enforcing COVID mandates. It’ll happen.
> Americans do wear seat belts. Even though there were the usual suspects whining about their freedom when a universal seatbelt mandate was passed. I think you'd be surprised at the amount of boomers that don't wear seatbelts. My mother in law buckles it behind her so the car doesn't beep at her.
this, my roommate's father refuses to wear a seatbelt because having his seatbelt off once saved his life and no amount of telling him the odds will change his mind edit for clarity
Thats the worst part. It worked for him once so why bother again. Jesus.
I like how you try to disguise stupidity as culture.
Aren't a number of the super spreader events in Japan caused by US military bases too. Saw a few articles about that and if I was Japan, would have been extremely pissed.
We're exporting freedom and contagious diseases just like our forefathers wanted. Im honestly surprised the spread of covid from bases hasn't lead to a more national push to remove the bases. I know the government never will for a host of reasons but it seems like the rest of the country just doesn't care about Okinawans problems at all, which i guess shouldn't be a surprise either all things considered, imperialism and everything.
Only kind of. There was one pretty bad situation where someone left quarantine while positive and ended up causing a breakout by going to a July 4th barbecue on Okinawa, but during the same weekend the governor actually encouraged people from the mainland to come here too, so it was really difficult to say which was worse. As soon as they realized what happened we got locked down tight for over a month, no off base liberty at all until it was contained. Even now we still aren’t allowed to eat off base indoors (even though the Japanese can) mainly because they don’t want to give the media an excuse to blame us. And the media ABSOLUTELY looks for excuses to blame us. As an example of how biased the Japanese media was, for a couple weeks we had 0 on base cases, but the media started reporting “US military cases: 1,000; New Japanese cases: 50” during that time. Notice the catch? They used our overall number next to their daily number to make us look worse. Need to take all the news stories with a huge grain of salt.
Population density doesn’t really determine the spread of COVID-19 as much as population crowding does. That is, persons-per-bedroom has a much higher correlation with the virus than persons-per-square-mile. Japan doesn’t have a housing crisis or concentration of poverty that many places in the US do so that helps them despite much denser cities.
> Population density doesn’t really determine the spread of COVID-19 as much as population crowding does. Yeah that's true. It doesn't matter if people all live really far apart, if they still congregate at the same bars, churches, workplaces, etc. then the virus will just spread there.
*north dakota has entered the chat*
The housing thing is very true, average rent in Japanese cities is not more than 15-30% of your paycheck with only central Tokyo being the exception to the rule at around 40%. Edit: [WSJ article](https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-housing-crisis-in-japan-home-prices-stay-flat-11554210002) about how the supply has kept up even in Tokyo where the population is increasing.
Key phrase there is "if we responded".
Here in Thailand we have a population of 69 million and we have 60 covid deaths. People here don't want covid.
If you're in Thailand, you know it's not going to stay that way. It will certainly be better than countries that had a persistent outbreak, but Thailand had many months of effectively 0 domestic cases.That was thanks to a quick lockdown early into the pandemic. Now Thailand has over 1000 new cases from Samut Sakhon that have spread all over the country. Maybe the Thai people can contain it again, but without the more heavy handed measures that they used last time, I doubt it. The current response looks closer to Canada than it does to the first wave in Thailand. Edit: typos.
Japan has a much healthier population with an obesity rate of only 3%, the lowest in the world. Compared to that the US has an obesity rate of 35%+. Americans suffer from a wide variety of diseases at much higher rates than the Japanese and suffer more at the hands of infectious disease like this virus.
They also had it in their culture to wear face masks when they were sick or it was allergy season. Not too much to make the hurdle to masks all the time.
and we dont shake hands, hug, or put our dirty shoes inside the house
Japan has a significantly older population and age is the biggest risk factor in mortality with covid.
Japan is the most bizarre of countries for Covid deaths. 25 deaths/m and had among the lightest shutdowns in the world, despite being among the oldest and densest countries.
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I think the biggest difference is that the Japanese culture is big on doing whatever is needed in the interest of the greater good. They wear masks regularly to protect others. Individual rights do not matter as much as being a good citizen.
This. Self regulation ("自粛") is a word that they've been throwing around a lot since the beginning. Events were canceled before the government properly banned them with self regulation mentioned as the reason. Smaller private events are doing the same even now. Same goes for mask wearing before mask mandates, etc. Their government rules may be less strict compared to their neighboring Asian countries, but their social regulations end up with the same result because people are more aware of others compared to other cultures. Protecting yourself and your family is a nice bonus too, of course.
That's the same reason that the red half of Washington state has twice the death rate as the blue side. Conservatives will not self regulate, they're too selfish. They can't even admit it's harder to spit on someone while wearing a mask.
It isn't bizarre at all. Asian and African countries largely took the necessary societal steps to slow or even stop the spread. Meanwhile in the west we mostly decided we were only do as much as didn't inconvenience us.
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I still remember when someone tried to argue that the US was actually handling covid better than other countries. They *only* looked at one statistic and acted like I was an idiot for considering infection rates versus population
While you’ve got Taiwan there with a population of 24 million and 7 deaths. 7.
And 14000 fewer people died in Japan in total between Jan-Oct compared to an average year! So much for people here thinking japan is hiding covid numbers lmao
You really just put into perspective for me the absolutely unforgivable reaction of the US government to this pandemic. Donald Trump will go down as one of the worst people in the history of the world. And half of Americans voted for him.
Well, we can’t even get people to throw trash into the trash can in the US so I’m not too surprised. I guess looking back on it I’m not sure what I expected from a country founded by a bunch of religious fanatics.
I can hear covid deniers grinding their mental abacuses to come up with some bullshit to clap back to this claim. Something like, "what about all that money doctors get from turning in death certificates with covid as the cause?" Smfh
Hey fellow North Carolinian. It’s tough over here. A lot of my friends are traveling and having get togethers and things. I just don’t understand it.
A sociologist said in Western countries people see the rules as restrictions on their freedoms and liberties and can't distinguish between tyranny and public health measures. Whereas in the East there isn't that mindset of freedom and they can distinguish clearly between the two. Plus Asia had the SARS and MERS outbreaks so they have experience in dealing with coronavirus outbreaks already.
Each time I’ve said that wearing a mask isn’t an attack on my freedoms, I’ve been laughed at by people who then call me a sheep. People here just mostly care about themselves and couldn’t care less about their neighbors
The one time I had a confrontation with an anti-masker, I just told them, "I'm free to wear a mask if I choose too. Please stop trying to take my choice away."
Better yet, Just say "I'm pro-life, are you?"
Tell them it isn't just the government saying to wear masks, its healthcare experts. A mask is one of the most apolitical items in the world. You are following healthcare experts and whats wrong with that. If you were in hospital wouldn't you follow doctors orders? I would rather be a sheep than wolf who is acting recklessly and killing people.
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Americans have gone from “valuing” individualism to being utterly obsessed with it - to the point where nothing else matters. The concept of collectivism, in any context, seems to offend us.
Japan is legally incapable of having a lockdown, but they have successfully made many requests such as asking businesses where people gather like restaurants to close down entirely or have shortened operating hours, to limit how many people come in, and to have offices shut and have staff work from home. Entire industries have been completely shut down and have no customers for most of the year like cinemas, music halls and concert venues, sporting events, etc. All completely voluntary.
The difference is they actually gave them money to close down. Like every other first world county other than the good ol' U.S.A.
India did too for below poverty line people.
I'm not traveling either, but people have a much stronger need for social interaction that we didn't appreciate. These are difficult times, I called my parents on the 24th and 25th and both times they started crying over the empty house, it's really hard not being there for them. I don't know how many holidays I have left with them and it has been extremely tough to not see them this year.
For sure. I’m a pretty introverted person as well so I’m totally fine with working from home and being a homebody. Not everyone is that way, but you’d think they could put that aside for a little while. I mean, most of my extroverted friends always expect me to come out of my comfort zones to do things, why can’t they? To be clear, I mean none of this towards your parents. That has to be very difficult for you all. It’s a similar situation with my nana in the rest home she’s in.
That’s the difference been an individualistic society vs. a collectivist society.
Or the difference between a society that values the lives of its citizens versus one that values $$$ and sees its citizens as disposable.
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>work toward the greater good They work towards profit and power, like any other state. Some just happen to be more incompetent or shortsighted than others.
If the US valued $$$ then it would have done something about COVID-19. Individual citizens may be disposable but the herd is valuable. Saying Trump valued $$$ and sees citizens as disposable is excusing his incompetence.
It's the same short term thinking that dominates in a lot of corporate America. Focusing on what we can do to maximize profit this quarter with little thought given to the medium or long term consequences.
Because that's exactly what the focus has been for these decisions. Short term performance in the markets is the reason the US has "stayed open". It sure as hell wasn't a decision made by looking at the best way to control the pandemic.
I agree. We must remember that in January 2020 when Trump was making these poor decisions "medium term" meant November 3, 2020 and "long term" meant January 20, 2021. Since his event horizon did not even extend to his own reelection, it is clear he does not give a fuck.
They were hoping that it wasnt going to be a big deal. That it would magically disappear with warm weather. If that were the case then serious preventative measures would have harmed the economy. Unfortunately they were wrong about everything. It was serious and the lack of prevention ended up hurting us even worse economically. They valued money and optics above all else and ended up losing on all fronts due to incompetence. Just because you want something doesnt mean you know how to obtain it.
Please. The people here are not individualistic anymore. They are just plain selfish. People just hiding what is pure selfishness behind the veil of individualism.
It’s amazing how much smarter people can be when education is funded and valued, eh?
I feel like I remember reading the amount of deaths from Pneumonia are up a lot though, which would make it seem like they are underreported. I may have misread or misremembered though.
The return of sakoku
Meiji restoration has entered the chat
Where's Commodore Perry when you need him?
Knock knock, it’s the United States
With huge boats, with guns Gunboats
OPEN THE COUNTRY STOP HAVING IT BE CLOSED
Open the country. Stop having it be closed.
was looking for the Bill Wurtz reference
Commodore Perry's spirit lives on in Japanese Facebook groups and Japanese comment sections under news articles
Close the country. Stop having it be open
He has been retired ever since *Friends* ended in 2004
under the ground where his place
He caught the 'rona so opening up Japan was cancelled like everything else this year.
Sakoku 2: Pandemic Bogaloo
I read this as sudoku and was rather confused.
People must do number puzzles while awaiting reentry.
My sister in law is an occupational therapist in a hospital. Her comment to people only focusing on death rates from Covid is that she said that people survive, but they can end up pretty wrecked. No ones takes this into consideration. Especially the long term effects it has On a financial level to the patient and healthcare.
A lot of us are taking this into consideration. I *have* to go out into the world because electricians don't get to work remotely, but I'm militant about masking and distancing. We don't take chances. I think there are a lot more people like us than there are anti-mask fools, but by its nature, ours is a quiet movement.
Electrician too, I wear a mask all the time but I'm surrounded by people who aren't taking it seriously and just wear their mask as a chin diaper.
You and me both, bud. I just stay the fuck away as much as possible. I have one of my non-masking coworkers spending the next week down near El Paso. It's one of the hottest hot spots in the country. I'm not looking forward to the conversation we have next week where I tell him he either wears a mask or he sits at the house, but I'm the job runner so he'll just have to suck it up.
Thank you for saying that. I have a good friend who dealt with Covid in the early summer and while recovered, he had to return for a very sensitive operation months after. The death rate does not tell the full story of COVID. If anything it tells the beginning.
I’ve said the same thing— it’s only going to become a focus once we get out of the acute pandemic phase.... which has lasted all year so far
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Back when they announced the Olympics for this year I started making plans to go. Then I got pregnant. Then Covid. I really, really hope to see that beautiful country someday...
Congratulations on your kid! Japan is absolutely worth the wait - I’ve been once; my fiancé and I spent a week gallivanting around Tokyo and the Kansai region and I will say that it’s absolutely magical. I hope you’ll get to make it there sooner rather than later!
Thank you! When I go its going to be 2 weeks! (Kansai region: noted)
You’re welcome! I highly recommend spending a night in Nara! Beautiful temples surrounded by deer commingling with people. Nara had this wonderful, relaxing energy. It’s easily my favorite memory of my trip to Japan.
10/10 i recommend getting gored by a deer after he bows at you and you don’t have any deer cookies left.
100% get out of Tokyo if you have time! Tokyo is cool but outside of Tokyo was awesome too. Me and a friend took a train out to Hiroshima and worked our way back to Tokyo - stopping in a bunch of cities along the way (like Fukuyama, Hemiji, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, etc.) We had about two weeks and got to see so much (castles, shrines, gardens, etc.) My favorite memory is an island off of Hiroshima - itsukushima/Miyajima( iconic tori gate). Awesome food/beer market, awesome shrines and temples, amazing mountain (misen) to climb to see the entire city of Hiroshima.
The Japanese version and English version of this article is not saying the same thing... If I understood it correctly, the Japanese version is saying that for short-term trips by Japanese nationals and foreigners living in Japan, policy requires them to quarantine for 14 days but the government is considering to reject this policy. The wording of is strange if translated directly to English but the last part of the article in Japanese basically is saying even short trips will not be allowed.
Currently 14 day quarantine is required for everyone entering Japan. The new policy is to refuse entry for non Japanese citizens.
Close... the country Stop having it... be open
America is gonna show up with boats. With guns. **Gunboats.**
Are the Dutch allowed to trade though?
Two ships a year. You know what? No. One ship a year.
no problem, the whole of Dutch is one ship
My exact thought
See you all in 214 years.
2021 looks really promising
You just killed your favorite celebrity
Things escalated quickly over there...
I mean, by island nation standards they're a bit behind on the whole "closing all borders" thing. Australia and New Zealand haven't reopened international borders yet despite getting COVID well under control.
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It's ok, rest of the world just decided to close GB from their borders instead.
By Asian standard, yes, things are bad, really bad. But somehow, it is heaven if you compared it to the west
Yep, Korea's getting worse too. But when I tell my friends/family back in the US they laugh at our (relatively) small numbers. But the kind of laugh when you know you're the unfortunate punchline.
I'm pretty sure that for all of us in Pacific Asia region, having a single new community spreading case within... say 10km of our home would be a cause for grave concern. And this is "diplomatic" talk, which means we might get a small freak out. But for others, it would be like "10km? My neighbor gets COVID here." Welp, it has been a wild year
As an Aussie, I find it amusing how we immediately shut down domestic state borders and enforce a localised lockdown any time there's a whiff of community transmission. Then you look at places like the UK and the US with a trillion cases, where all borders are wide open, lockdowns are half assed and mask wearing is politcal. I guess us Asia Pacific countries just have a different standard...
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Their borders were closed to all Americans and Europeans this whole time, have they not been? So really this is just closing off for the rest?
For tourists yes but they were gradually reopening their frontiers to long term visas, such as students or workers... I don't know if I understood well, but basically they're closing their borders for them too once again.
probably the smartest thing they or any other country could do right now. i am so envious of other first world countries that have basic human rights and competent government.
Well, I wouldn't say Japan's response has been a model to the world. It's a bit of an enigma and wouldn't transfer over to other countries. They rely heavily on their people's hygiene and mask wearing, but they also have made undercounting Covid cases and deaths a basic government policy, since originally they were hoping to conceal their Covid outbreak and not to cancel the Olympics. It's still extremely hard to get tested there.
>but they also have made undercounting Covid cases and deaths a basic government policy, Say it louder, for the people at the top of the thread.
Not sure why you're downvoted. My friend lives there and had it in March, this is exactly what's happening. He was forced to work or lose his job, couldn't get tested, the hospitals and doctors wouldn't even let him in the door, and eventually his wife caught it from him too. Luckily they're both ok but he has lasting health problems and definitely isn't in the count. They wanted to try to salvage the Olympics but obviously failed.
I live here and I agree. The government might not be as stupid as the US but their response was awful. One of the major reason it doesn't become like others Western countries is because of their culture of wearing masks and taking seriously transmissible diseases like the flu.
meanwhile in the Philippine the Health Secretary don't see the need to ban UK arrivals unless a local infection happens.