Another update from the Prefectural JET Program advisors, Lily McDermott & Chase Sutherland. Some small edits in order because of the attached image file.

======= Dear Kumamoto,

We hope everyone has had an enjoyable couple of weeks of fine weather and is doing well as the second term begins.

The Kumamoto Prefectural government decided yesterday (26 August) to keep the Risk Level set at Level 4 (https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/common/UploadFileOutput.ashx?c_id=3&id=32638&sub_id=37&flid=248357) for the time being.

Although the clusters announced earlier this month (JMU, Yamaga etc.) have settled down, and as a result the numbers of cases appears to have decreased, the current infection situation is still described to be “on the increase” (拡大傾向にある).

Within Kumamoto City, the number of new cases in the one-week period from 18-24 August was 37 people. This was the highest number for any one-week period since the start of the pandemic, and each week over the past 5 consecutive weeks has broken new records for numbers of cases (Read more here: https://this.kiji.is/671504759269901409?c=92619697908483575 – note; this is for Kumamoto City rather than the Prefecture as a whole; higher total numbers were recorded during the JMU/Yamaga clusters if the prefecture as a whole is taken into account).

The requests from the prefecture in terms of refraining from out-of-prefecture travel, etc. remain the same. Going forward, unless there are major changes, such as a change to the risk level, or another sudden spike in cases/cluster, we are hoping to transition into a weekly update schedule going forward.

This time around, we’ve tried to collect some news articles as well as summarise some information found on Kumamoto Prefecture’s website, etc., that we think would serve to paint a picture of the situation as it stands now, so please read on for more information. As always, stay safe and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to us.

Here are your updates:

●Current information on hospitalisation, etc. Currently 77 people are hospitalised (19.3% of capacity), 0 of which are critical, 17 are moderate, 49 are light, and 11 are asymptomatic. You can view the breakdown of cases as well as a graph of new cases on this page here: https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/kiji_35165.html

●Breakdown of the total number of cases announced by Kumamoto Prefecture since our last update (12 August) by municipality of residence Since our last update two weeks ago, cases were confirmed among residents of the following municipalities:

Kumamoto City - 73 Ashikita Town - 9 Uki City - 7 Yatsushiro City - 5 Takamori Town - 5 Gyokuto Town - 5 Nagasu Town - 2 Minamata City - 1 Mashiki Town - 3 Kosa Town - 1 Kashima Town - 1 Saitama Prefecture - 1

You can read brief descriptions for each case here (in English) updated daily: http://www.kuma-koku.jp/support-center/page156.html

More detailed information is available in Japanese here (for Kumamoto Prefecture) https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/kiji_32300.html, and here https://www.city.kumamoto.jp/corona/hpkiji/pub/Detail.aspx?c_id=5&id=27681 (for Kumamoto City)

●Kumanichi Article: Mayor says clusters observed in four different drinking establishments in Kumamoto City The following is a partial translation of an article which appeared on Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun’s website this morning (27 August). https://this.kiji.is/671504759269901409?c=92619697908483575

Mayor Onishi announced on April 26 that four restaurants in the downtown area of Chuo-ku are “clusters”, and has announced their names to the public. Three of these are at bars; “FOOD BAR Settle”, “Connection”, and “SPOONY”, and one “snack club” known as “Marble” . Between 18th-23rd, August a total of 17 men and women, including 10 employees and 7 customers, were confirmed to be infected, and all four stores were closed from the 19th.

●Requests from the Prefecture Finally, just as a reminder, the following requests are in place from the Prefecture to residents:

  • Continue avoiding unnecessary and non-urgent travel outside of the prefecture.
  • Tell relatives and friends who live outside the prefecture to avoid coming to Kumamoto.
  • When planning family events, avoid dining in groups of 10 people or more. The prefecture requests that people who have symptoms such as cold symptoms or fever do not join in such events.
  • People should take special care to reduce the risk of infection around elderly people or those with immune deficiencies in their families.
  • Implement measures to prevent the spread of infection in the home, such as washing hands or bathing immediately after returning home, and to separate living spaces from family members who have symptoms such as fever.

●Occurrence of cases charted (see image file attached to this post )