Daily coronavirus cases are steadily on the rise nationwide as Japan heads into the New Year period when many people travel to their hometowns to see their families, with infections in Tokyo projected to peak in early January.
Cases rose from 89,622 on Dec. 4 to 136,407 two weeks later on Dec. 18, and then to 149,665 on Sunday. The figures are still lower than the peak of about 260,000 in mid-August amid the seventh wave.
Many public schools finished the semester Friday, and companies will wrap up their operations for the year over the next few days. Train stations and airports will then be full of people making their way to a relaxing vacation or to reunite with their families and friends — a scenario that could trigger a further spread of the virus.
Major travel agency JTB estimates that about 21 million people will travel domestically, up 16.7% from the previous year, though still 71.8% of the level in 2019. There is expected to be a big jump in outbound travelers — 150,000 people, 7.5 times the number seen the year before — according to the company.
Quick, a financial data company, predicted last week that Tokyo cases will peak in the first week of January, with the weekly rolling average hovering between 20,000 and 27,000. The average through Sunday was 17,133.4.
“The number of cases and the hospital occupancy rate (for coronavirus patients) are increasing nationwide,” health minister Katsunobu Kato said Friday.
“To protect high-risk patients and children, I am asking people to again use self-test kits for COVID-19 and health centers supporting coronavirus patients staying at home.”
The government has been urging only those who have a higher risk of suffering from severe symptoms — those age 65 and older, those in grade school and younger (typically 12 years old and younger), those who are pregnant and those with an underlying disease — to go to the doctor when they have a fever. Others are asked to use a self-test kit, and then recuperate at home if they test positive for COVID-19.
The policy is part of its effort to prepare for a possible “twindemic” scenario this winter, in which up to 750,000 people per day could be infected with either the coronavirus or the flu, straining the health care system.
Compared with the coronavirus, the flu is still not as prevalent compared with pre-pandemic years, but it is slowly starting to spread. Cases are beginning to rise, with five prefectures — Tokyo, Iwate, Toyama, Aomori and Kumamoto — reporting one case or more per designated clinic, a threshold that indicates the flu is spreading.
In the past, flu cases have reached their peak six to eight weeks after passing that threshold, Kato said.
Experts have warned that the risk of flu infection is higher this year because of reduced immunity in society due to a much lower number of cases during the coronavirus pandemic. As a result of people taking anti-infection measures against COVID-19, such as mask-wearing, hand-washing and restricting their outings, the past two years have seen few flu infections.
Meanwhile, to help the public become better protected against the coronavirus, the government has been encouraging people to get omicron-targeting vaccines, which became available in September. As of Friday, 32.5% had been vaccinated with an omicron shot, the highest among the Group of Seven countries.
Source Japan Times
BDST: 1702 HRS, Dec 26, 2022
MSK
