Kirk here with more about COVID-19. Today there were 318 new cases in Kumamoto. This is a new record and part of the national trend. You can check the local statistics on the following page:
RKK reported on a press conference held by Vice Governor Kimura in which he stressed that the vaccines are effective and that people who haven’t been vaccinated yet should get vaccinated as soon as possible. He said that of the 2217 cases of the last 15 day, 90 were so-called breakthrough cases – cases in which the person who got sick had already gotten both shots more than two weeks ago. The point is that that’s only 4% of the total, even though a big chunk of the population has already been vaccinated. So, if more people get vaccinated the over-all numbers should decline.
https://rkk.jp/news/index.php?id=NS003202108201735590111
By the way, one piece of disinformation in the poster that Ruth shared with us (Thanks Ruth! It’s good to know what’s happening, even when it’s crazy), is that COVID-19 is “just a cold.” Well, today a 50-something man died at home from his “cold” here in Kumamoto today. Doctors wanted to hospitalize him but he refused because he didn’t have someone to take care of his cat. :( This was also reported on the RKK evening news show.