<![CDATA[Coronavirus: Japan disease expert hits out at slow government response]>
The Japanese scientist who decried Tokyo's handling of the coronavirus-ravaged Diamond Princess cruise ship in February has again criticised the government for being slow to change its coronavirus strategy and for not advocating an effective lockdown of the capital, amid a sharp rise in cases there and nationwide.
Kentaro Iwata, an expert in infectious diseases at Kobe University Hospital, said on Monday that officials were failing to provide clear messaging to the public on the need to stay at home and keep a safe distance from other people despite the recent declaration of a month-long state of emergency.
"If you block the route to further transmission, further transmission will not occur and the epidemic will slow down, and the most effective way of stopping further transmission is a so-called lockdown, particularly in the Tokyo area," Iwata said during a video streaming event hosted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a state of emergency for Japan on April 7, calling on the public to reduce contact with others by 70-80 per cent but insisting there was no need to copy the harsh lockdowns of countries such as France and Italy.
Under the declaration, prefectural governors can ask people to remain at home and close non-essential businesses but have no legal authority to enforce compliance through penalties such as fines " a softer approach widely attributed to bitter memories of civil rights abuses perpetrated by the military government during the second world war.
Many shops and restaurants have remained open since the declaration, and the number of confirmed cases has risen from nearly 4,000 to more than 10,800 nationwide, including more than 3,000 in Tokyo, with an additional 712 cases linked to the Diamond Princess cruise ship. More than 250 people in Japan have died from the virus, which causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease.
Workers in protective clothes stand in front of passengers disembarking from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in February. Photo: AFP alt=Workers in protective clothes stand in front of passengers disembarking from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in February. Photo: AFP
"Japan doesn't have a law to allow a lockdown ... but that doesn't matter," said Iwata. "You could say you should stay home, that you shouldn't go out of [your] town and you shouldn't go into this town, and that message could be delivered very effectively and thoroughly and continuously even without punishment or penalising people who didn't follow or obey the order."
Iwata, who in February raised the alarm about "chaotic" quarantine procedures on board the Diamond Princess, said it could potentially be necessary to practise social distancing in Japan for years to come to prevent recurring outbreaks.
"Our society needs to be in some sort of lockdown for a long, long time, maybe even for years, but with a decreased or increased level, depending on the situation," he said.
The infectious diseases expert said Japanese officials had been slow to learn from South Korea's containment strategy, with its focus on mass testing and aggressive contact tracing, despite doing a good job identifying clusters of infection and tracking down contacts when case numbers were low. After strictly limiting testing compared to South Korea and some other countries, Japan has begun ramping up its capacity amid rising deaths and fears that the country's health system could be overburdened or even collapse.
Pedestrians wearing protective masks cross an intersection in the Shibuya district of Tokyo on Sunday night, Photo: Bloomberg alt=Pedestrians wearing protective masks cross an intersection in the Shibuya district of Tokyo on Sunday night, Photo: Bloomberg
Japan carried out about 52,000 tests in March, less than one-fifth of the amount done in South Korea, according to Oxford University data.
Last week, Haruo Ozaki, president of the Tokyo Medical Association, warned that beds for coronavirus patients continued to be almost full and were "being occupied instantly" despite efforts to boost capacity. Health Minister Katsunobu Kato has also acknowledged cases of suspected coronavirus patients being turned away in ambulances.
"Japan hasn't built a system in which ordinary hospitals can take infectious disease patients in an emergency, when designated hospitals can't cope," Ozaki said on Friday.
Iwata said the shift towards more widespread testing was "not happening immediately", noting "there was some delay in the change of strategy and that is causing a problem right now."
A screen grab of professor Kentaro Iwata's video news conference hosted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo. Photo: FCCJ via AP alt=A screen grab of professor Kentaro Iwata's video news conference hosted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo. Photo: FCCJ via AP
While stressing he did not wish to point the figure at any individual politician, Iwata criticised US President Donald Trump's decision to freeze funding to the World Health Organisation for its alleged mismanagement of the pandemic.
"The WHO needs a lot of support from a variety of bodies so this is not a good time to cut down the support, financial support or any other," he said.
"It will not benefit the United States either. I don't think it's a good idea to be hostile toward any international bodies at this time."
Iwata also expressed doubt that Japan would be able to host the Olympics, which was originally set to take place in July and August, in the time frame that Abe and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach had agreed. The IOC said last month in a statement that the Games "must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but no later than summer 2021".
"You have to invite so many athletes from so many, many places," Iwata said. "Japan might be able to control this disease by next summer " and I wish we could " but I don't think that would happen everywhere on Earth. In this regard, I am very pessimistic about holding the Olympic Games next summer."
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Reuters
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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