Joe Tomei. This last one is a good explanation about what is happening in Fukuoka. I’d just observe that Kumamoto has much less public transport than Fukuoka, which possibly may account for the slower spread. Unfortunately, if that is the case, it will not be preventative, it will simply have us climbing the exponential rise later. Again, thanks to the Prefectural Advisors for the Kumamoto JETS, Bilal Khan & Lily McDermott, for allowing me to share these.

●Some additional comments about Fukuoka Fukuoka was one of the prefectures in which a state of emergency now applies, and since it is so near to Kumamoto we think it’s worth taking some time to talk about the situation in Fukuoka in a bit more detail.

Many people have wondered why Fukuoka was included when places such as Hokkaido and Aichi were not, despite Hokkaido and Aichi having higher total numbers. At a press conference last night, the head of the government’s coronavirus advisory committee Shigeru Omi gave a clear explanation of why he recommended the inclusion of Fukuoka.

The reason is that although the cumulative number of cases is higher in Aichi and Hokkaido, the recent rate of increase in Fukuoka is much higher. In a one week period, cases in Aichi and Hokkaido increased 1.4 times and 1.1 times respectively, whereas in Fukuoka the rate of increase over the same period was 6.2 times. Stated in other terms, in Fukuoka, the time it took for the the number of cases to double was the shortest in the whole country, at 2.9 days as of 6 April. The proportion of cases for which the route of infection is unknown in Fukuoka is also the highest in the country, at 72%.

Read more about this (in Japanese): https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASN4735VYN46TIPE03B.html https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200407/k10012373831000.html

In a press conference yesterday the Governor of Kumamoto said that he is taking these developments very seriously. Governor Kabashima asked people in Kumamoto to avoid travel to any of the prefectures for which a state of emergency was declared, including Fukuoka. He also asked people living in those areas not to return to Kumamoto at this time, underlying the importance of minimizing our movements and social interactions to curb the spread of the virus.