Japan Acted Like the Virus Had Gone. Now It's Spread Everywhere. [View all]
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-31/japan-acted-like-the-virus-had-gone-now-it-s-spread-everywhere
After initial success, Japan is facing a reality check on the coronavirus.
The country garnered global attention after containing the first wave of Covid-19 with what it referred to as the Japan Model -- limited testing and no lockdown, nor any legal means to force businesses to close. The countrys finance minister even suggested a higher cultural standard helped contain the disease.
But now the island nation is facing a formidable resurgence, with Covid-19 cases hitting records nationwide day after day. Infections first concentrated in the capital have spread to other urban areas, while regions without cases for months have become new hotspots. And the patient demographic -- originally younger people less likely to fall seriously ill -- is expanding to the elderly, a concern given that Japan is home to the worlds oldest population.
Experts say that Japans focus on the economy may have been its undoing. As other countries in Asia, which experienced the coronavirus earlier than those in the West, wrestle with new flare ups of Covid-19, Japan now risks becoming a warning for what happens when a country moves too fast to normalize -- and doesnt adjust its strategy when the outbreak changes.
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