Joe Tomei here with an update from the JET advisors, Bilal Khan & Lily McDermott
===== Hello Kumamoto,
Here are some more updates:
●New cases in Kumamoto Seven new cases in Kumamoto have been confirmed since our last update on 16 April. The number of confirmed cases in Kumamoto is now 40.
34th case (April 17) - Male in his 30s from Sapporo 35th case (April 17) - Female in her 20s, Kumamoto City - Unknown infection route 36th case (April 18) - Female in her 40s, Kumamoto City - Nurse, treated the 25th case on April 11 37th case (April 18) - Male in his 70s, Kumamoto City - Unknown infection route 38th case (April 19) - Female in her 70s, Kumamoto City - Related to the 37th case 39th case (April 19) - Male in his 40s, Kumamoto City - Self-employed, has not gone to work since April 1 40th case (April 19) - Female in her 30s, Kumamoto City - Nurse, co-worker of the 36th case
You can find the above information summarised in English on the Kumamoto Support Center for Foreign Residents website here: http://www.kuma-koku.jp/support-center/page156.html
Two of the recent cases are in connection with the Kumamoto Regional Medical Center (熊本地域医療センター, Kumamoto Chiiki Iryō Sentā). Further investigation and testing is ongoing, and the hospital has halted taking on any new patients and emergency outpatients for the time being. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200419/k10012395791000.html, https://this.kiji.is/624741614354596961
Masaki Koreishi, a Japanese-English translator in Kumamoto, translated the NHK article about this which you can read on the Kumamoto International Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/3616730525067020
●News about possible implementation of drive-through testing in Kumamoto The Amakusa Health Centre has announced it will introduce drive-through testing, in case it becomes necessary to test large volumes of people.
Kumamoto Prefecture as a whole is also looking into the possibility of collecting test samples at drive-throughs method and conducting PCR tests on the spot at the 35 Returnee/Virus Contact Consultation Centres across the prefecture. https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20200417-00000004-rkkv-l43
●Kumamoto Indoor Exercise Video With more and more time being spent at home, it is easy to fall into a sedentary routine. The prefectural government has released a video featuring five Kumamoto-themed exercises developed in collaboration with Kinki University Associate Professor Michiya Tanimoto. Why not try out some squats like you are getting into a bath at Yamaga Onsen, do table-push ups like a kijiuma from Hitoyoshi, leg-raise like an Amakusa kuruma-ebi, manual row like Kato Kiyomasa, and do some Daikanbo lunges? Relieve some stress and get some exercise by following along with Professor Tanimoto and Kumamon using the video on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwBY7rpNOwA
