Advertisement
Coronavirus pandemic
This Week in AsiaHealth & Environment

Coronavirus: Japan warns deaths could hit 420,000, amid rising anger at government response

  • A task force projected that over 850,000 people could become critically ill and almost half of them could die if social distancing and other measures are not followed
  • Anger is mounting at Shinzo Abe’s government, with 80 per cent saying the emergency came too late, and calls for financial support

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
Staff members of the Tokyo metropolitan government take to the streets to call for people to stay home after the government announced a state of emergency for the capital and other prefectures to control the spread of Covid-19 infections. Photo: Reuters
ReutersandJulian Ryall
Japan’s death toll from the novel coronavirus could reach 420,000 if people do not reduce contact with each other and no preventive measures are taken to stem the contagion, a health ministry task force warned on Wednesday.

The team said its simulation showed how important it was for authorities to take effective measures to reduce social contact, and for people to follow guidelines.

Hiroshi Nishiura, a Hokkaido University professor and an infectious disease expert on the task force, called for an 80 per cent reduction in human-to-human contact during the current state of emergency imposed on seven prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka.

“We can stop the spread of this infectious disease if we drastically reduce contact between people,” he said. The government does not expect deaths to reach this level if these measures are implemented.

He does not understand that ordinary people are hurting, that they are living in anxiety and are suffering deep economic hardship.
Professor Noriko Hama

A ministry team studying Covid-19 clusters estimated that serious cases needing ventilator intervention could reach 850,000, Kyodo reported.

Advertisement