The riddle of Japan's dramatic drop in COVID numbers
The turnaround came in the wake of a fifth wave of infections that peaked in August. Japan is trying to figure out why its COVID case numbers and fatalities have plummeted.
In mid-August, not long after the Tokyo Olympics had wrapped up, the situation in Japan looked grim to Dr. Hideaki Oka, an infectious disease expert at the Saitama Medical University Hospital outside Tokyo.
As he treated COVID patients at his hospital, Japan was in the grip of a fifth wave of infections. New cases nationwide had surged to around 25,000 a day, and the country's medical system was being stretched to its limits.
By late September, cases had plunged, and
