The sudden acceleration in the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in Japan puts the pandemic at the heart of the news, somewhat overshadowed by the Olympic Games and the daily harvest of a Japanese team competing with Chinese and Americans in the ranking of medals.
Parliament was to discuss, Wednesday, July 28, the explosion of new contaminations, which reached the number of 7,629 cases on Tuesday, or double what they were a week before – a level that had no longer been seen since January. The situation seems particularly critical in Tokyo, where 2,848 cases have been recorded, a record since the start of the pandemic, while the capital has been in “state of emergency” since July 12, a status supposed to stem the spread of the virus. .
In a country relatively spared so far, with 883,766 cases and 15,165 deaths, parliamentarians will discuss new measures with the ministers concerned: Taro Kono, in charge of vaccination, and Yasutoshi Nishimura, who takes care of the management of the pandemic. The government was slow to respond, the situation deteriorating for two weeks. Its main scientific adviser on the pandemic, Shigeru Omi, had predicted on July 20 a doubling of cases by the beginning of August, if nothing was done.
The doubling came earlier than expected, and on July 27 Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga vowed to “Work with local authorities while being aware of the urgency”, while calling on the population to “Avoid going out unnecessarily and watching the Olympic and Paralympic Games on television”.
The causes of the explosion of cases are firstly attributable to the highly contagious Delta variant, which represents nearly 70% of new contaminations. Next is the lack of compliance with state of emergency measures, which include a call to stay home and a demand for restaurants to close at 8 p.m. and stop selling alcohol at 7 p.m. In total, 84% of new cases are under the age of 50.
Waiting for new measures
Unlike previous states of emergency, the drop in exits is less significant. The Japanese reportedly took advantage of the four-day weekend they had from July 22 to 25 to travel. The Olympics also brought about several gatherings. There is also the question of the transmission of the virus by participants in the Games, the “sanitary bubble” supposed to isolate the participants appearing not very airtight.
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