Another update from JET Prefectural Advisors Bilal Khan & Lily McDermott. Unfortunately, not really good news. Please stay safe.
===== This afternoon, a senior high school student who attends a school in central Kumamoto was confirmed to be infected with COVID-19. The student has no symptoms. This is the first time a student has been confirmed to be infected in Kumamoto Prefecture. He is asymptomatic and is currently at home. After the result was confirmed, all students at the school were sent home and instructed to stay at home. https://kumanichi.com/news/1542257/
This brings the current number of cases in Kumamoto at the time of this email to 152, although this may continue to increase before the end of the day as more test results are released.
Please find some additional updates below. First are some brief summaries of news articles, followed by a list of cases announced yesterday and today.
Japan Marine United releases statement concerning cluster Japan Marine United, the shipyard associated with the recent cluster this week in Nagasu Town, has revealed that a separate case which occured in the Ariake Area back in April was also someone who worked at JMU. Despite that previous case, a large number of employees did not wear masks in the workplace. JMU has apologised for causing the local community to worry, and they will be obeying advice from the local health center to improve the infection prevention precautions taken in the workplace. https://this.kiji.is/660663322878313569?c=92619697908483575
Recent cases have higher proportion of under-40s than previous wave The cases in the current wave of infections are characterised by a higher proportion of people in their 20s, 30s and 40s being infected as compared to infections in March~May. https://kumanichi.com/news/1541228/
All-time high of new cases in Aichi, Osaka and Okinawa; first case in Miyakojima, high numbers of cases continue in Tokyo Today the first coronavirus case in Miyakojima was confirmed. As of 4pm today, Okinawa has the highest number of cases reported since the pandemic began (44), more than double the number of cases reported yesterday. https://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/articles/-/608293 https://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/articles/-/608253
Today Osaka Prefecture has reported 220 cases. The first time more than 200 cases were reported in Osaka in one day. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200729/k10012539201000.html?utm_int=news_contents_news-main_001
Aichi Prefecture also reported its highest number of cases so far, at 159 new cases. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200729/k10012538931000.html?utm_int=news_contents_news-main_003
Tokyo reported 250 new cases. Although not the highest, the number of cases has been higher than 100 per day for 21 days in a row. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200729/k10012538361000.html?utm_int=news-social_contents_list-items_025
Additional cases in Kumamoto 28-29 July: (28 July) Cases 120-124 - Five additional cases, all males employed at Japan Marine United in Nagasu Town.
Case 125 - Female in her teens, Kumamoto City - Part-time employee at the restaurant visited by case 85
Case 126 - Male in his 20s, Kumamoto City - Close contact of case 61
Cases 127-130, 135 - Nagasu Shipyard cluster (Case 135 is the mother of a JMU employee. She is a public employee at Hello Work in Tamana.)
Case 131 - Female in her 20s, Kumamoto City - Currently investigating infection route
Case 132 - Male in his 40s, Kumamoto City - Currently investigating infection route
Case 133 - Male in his 50s, Kumamoto City - Currently investigating infection route
Case 134 - Male in his 30s, Kumamoto City - Currently investigating infection route
Case 136 - Male in his 50s, Kikuchi City government employee - Close contact of case 85
(29 July) Cases 137-139 - Three additional cases in association with the “Taiyo” Nursing Home in Yamaga City. This brings the total number of cases at the Yamaga City “Taiyo” Nursing Home to 29 people.
Two additional cases were confirmed in Kumamoto City. In addition, 10 new cases associated with JMU in Nagasu were announced. This brings the number of cases associated with JMU in Nagasu to 49 people (38 living in Kumamoto Prefecture outside Kumamoto City mostly the Tamana-Arao-Nagasu Area, 3 in Kumamoto City, 7 in Fukuoka and 1 in Tokyo).
https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/common/UploadFileOutput.ashx?c_id=3&id=32300&sub_id=65&flid=244896
Disaster recovery news: President of JR Kyushu announced that recovery of the JR Hisatsu Line between Yatsushiro and Yoshimatsu, Kagoshima, passing through the affected areas, will take over 1 year to be restored. Two of the bridges over the Kuma River which were swept away were constructed in the Meiji Era. In the rain disaster affecting a different JR Line in Oita, train services were not restored, and instead the line was replaced with Bus Rapid Transit. JR is planning to consult with the local community to decide the direction of how restoration will take place going forward. https://kumanichi.com/news/1541219/
