Commentary: Japan shows how not to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak

The warning sirens that the country stood on the cusp of a major outbreak were sounded by former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Agency Scott Gottlieb in an interview with CNBC on Feb 18, which he pointed out stood in stark contrast with Singapore. But they have gone largely unheeded.Experts have pointed out that Japan begins from a position of disadvantage and lack of preparedness where the country was untouched by SARS in 2003.

FILE PHOTO: A woman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan, Jan 20, 2020. So Japanese cities, some of the densest in the world, chugged on with packed, peak-hour trains and crowded high-speed rail travel. Information about infection cases, transmissions and the conditions of infected patients remained scarce.Part of this hesitance stems from the lack of clarity of responsibilities as the state government delegated to municipalities critical decisions such as public disclosure on essential details like the travel history of patients.

The Diamond Princess is seen here through a fence at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan, Feb 1, 2020. His accusations that he was kicked off the ship after attempting to advise on how the situation could be remedied were responded to by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga’s attempts to assuage the public of the proportionality of measures.But such assurances quickly unraveled when workers from the Japanese Ministry of Health and the Cabinet office onboard confirmed they were COVID-19 positive, reinforcing Iwata’s claim of the ship being “completely chaotic”.

Very well-reported. Politicians there probably don’t want to make a big deal out of the outbreak, as it’ll affect their chance of going ahead with the Olympics.

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