Joe Tomei here with another COVID update from JET Prefectural Advisors Lily McDermott & Chase Sutherland.

As the peaceful month of March ends and we leave the cherry blossoms behind, we look forward to a season of azaleas, wisteria and unfortunately, it seems, a “fourth-wave” of COVID-19 cases.

The Kumamoto “risk-level” was kept at Level 3 for the month of March, and we have very consistently had very few cases locally, with daily numbers ranging from zero to the single-digits, but news in the rest of the country seems considerably more grim. Here are some new coronavirus updates:

Elderly couple in Mifune possibly infected with new COVID variant The Kumanichi Newspaper reported that an couple in their 70s living in Mifune were possibly infected by their granddaughter visiting from Osaka last week. Based on the lab results, the grandmother is highly likely to be infected with a variant, although the grandfather’s test turned out to have insufficient genetic material for the test to be conclusive. A more complete picture of the results, including which exact variant the elderly couple were infected with, are expected to take 1 to 2 weeks to come through. https://this.kiji.is/749600680815771648?c=92619697908483575

Highest number of cases in Tokyo since SOE lifted, but even higher numbers in Kansai. Outbreak continues in Sendai Yesterday Tokyo announced 475 new confirmed cases, the highest number since the state of emergency there was lifted on 21 March (just two weeks ago). The metropolis is asking people to avoid outings and the 3 Cs as much as possible. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210401/k10012950021000.html

The number of cases are even higher in Osaka, which saw 616 new cases (see attached image):

The overall situation in the Kansai area is considerably alarming, with Hyogo Prefecture announcing that its COVID-19 caseload is now predominantly made up of the UK variant. Hyogo Prefecture conducted a randomized test on samples from 70 positive cases in the preceding 1-week period, 56 of which were confirmed to be of the UK variant (80% of tested samples). The percentage the week before was only 52.6%, suggesting that the UK variant is spreading quickly in the region.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210401/k10012950921000.html?utm_int=all_side_ranking-social_004

Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture is also the center of an outbreak in the Tohoku region. Miyagi Prefecture declared an independent state of emergency over two weeks ago on 18 March. Nevertheless, the total number of cases broke a record yesterday, with 200 new cases in one day, 123 of which were residents of Sendai City. Miyagi currently has the highest number of cases per 100,000 population, at 42.8. https://kahoku.news/articles/20210401khn000008.html

“Special Measures” to be applied to Osaka, Hyogo and Miyagi from Monday After experiencing this sharp rebound in new cases described above, Osaka, Hyogo and Miyagi have requested the national government to be designated as needing “Stronger Anti-Virus Measures” (まん延防止等重点措置). This is a new classification that was written into law back in January which enables governments to implement strengthened measures without calling a “State of Emergency”.

The national government has agreed and Osaka, Hyogo and Miyagi will be able to implement “Stronger Anti-Virus Measures” as of Monday, 5 April next week. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210401/k10012951071000.html?utm_int=all_side_ranking-social_002

Here are some of the differences between the “State of Emergency” and “Stronger Anti-Virus Measures” are listed in a table attached as an image

Kumamoto Prefecture Q&A about COVID-19 Vaccinations Kumamoto Prefecture has released a Q&A, which has been translated into English and posted on the homepage for the Kumamoto Support Center for Foreign Residents, covering information such as general information about the vaccine, timeline, eligibility, side effects, and where to contact for additional information. You can read it here: http://www.kuma-koku.jp/support-center/page281.html or in Japanese here: https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/30/88280.html

Travel outside the prefecture https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/30/78301.html Kumamoto Prefecture is still requesting residents to avoid the 3 Cs when making unavoidable outings, and avoid any travel to areas for which a state of emergency has been called or there are more than 15 cases per 100,000 population over the preceding 1-week period.

Although there is no official State of Emergency sanctioned by the national government in place currently, as of 2 April, the prefecture is requesting residents to avoid unnecessary and non-urgent travel to the following prefectures: Miyagi, Okinawa, Osaka, Yamagata, Tokyo, Ehime, Nara and Hyogo. You can keep track of the list on the prefectural website here, which is regularly updated (Japanese only): https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/30/78301.html

That is all for now. Stay well and safe!