May 3, 2020 12:00 pm
HOKKAIDDO, JAPAN(VINnews) — A Japanese island has been struck by a second wave of coronavirus after having prematurely lifted its lockdown.
Hokkaido, the second-largest island in Japan with 5.3 million people, had been viewed as a model in virus-management before they lifted the lockdown, but now experts hope to learn lessons from them about lifting measures too quickly.
The northern region of Hokkaido lifted its lockdown on March 19 so that businesses and schools could reopen. This came as the result of the number of new cases falling to one or two per day.
However only 26 days later, the island reinstituted its lockdown after 135 new cases were reported in one week.
Dr. Kiyoshi Nagase, chairman of the Hokkaido Medical Association, told TIME: ‘Now I regret it, we should not have lifted the first state of emergency.
‘It really may not be until next year that we can safely lift these lockdowns.
The local government had assessed the impact immigration would have on the spread of coronavirus on the island but had not taken into account domestic migration.
Yoko Tsukamoto, a professor of infection control at the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido said that with hindsight, the lockdown lift was too early.
‘At the time, we didn’t have enough information and we did not have an adequate understanding of this disease, and given the information that was available – that new cases were down to one or two a day – it could be argued that the governor made the right decision in lifting the state of emergency.
‘We know that was the wrong move now, but then it seemed the best thing to do,’ she told The Daily Telegraph.
She said: ‘These lockdowns and states of emergency will have to be lifted eventually, but the lesson is to wait as long as possible, to get accurate data on infection numbers and to be very, very cautious when the rules are relaxed.
‘And the authorities have to be ready to move quickly and put the restrictions back in place at the first sign of another surge.’
Hokkaido reported 38 new cases on Tuesday, bringing its total number of infections to 688, fifth highest in Japan. One person also died from the virus taking the island’s death toll to 27.
The island’s coronavirus cases can be traced back to its Sapporo Snow Festival in February, before the initial lockdown was in place, which attracted two million people.
One Chinese tourist was being treated on the island for coronavirus during the festival after contracting it in Wuhan.
118 people were being treated for the virus by March 12, making Hokkaido the worst-hit of all Japan’s 47 prefectures.
The island’s story serves as a wake-up call for leaders of other nations — including the US — as they consider loosening restrictions, Kazuto Suzuki, vice dean of international politics at Hokkaido University, told TIME.
“Hokkaido shows, for example, that what’s happening in the US with individual governors opening up is very dangerous; of course you can’t close interstate traffic but you need to put controls in place,” he said. “That’s what we now know: Even if you control the first wave, you can’t relax.”
Source: VosIzNeias
