A bus takes passengers disembarked from the Diamond Princess on February 19, 2020. - Jae C. Hong / AP / SIPA

  • The disembarkation at Yokohama of the passengers of the "Diamond Princess" has started.
  • Pointed at for managing the epidemic, the Japanese government has taken several measures to try to limit the spread.
  • The authorities have notably called on citizens to avoid crowded trains, an instruction that is difficult to apply for many employees.

The landing must continue until Friday. Hundreds of passengers on the liner Diamond Princess , quarantined in Japan for two weeks, began dismounting Wednesday in Yokohama, near Tokyo. About 500 passengers among those showing no symptoms of coronavirus, with priority given to the elderly, had to leave the ship during the day. Among the 3,711 passengers and crew on board at the start of their quarantine, at least 542 people were found to be infected with the virus, the Japanese government announced on Tuesday evening, making the country the most significant source of contamination after China. Tuesday, the Archipelago counted a total of 616 positive cases identified, including one death, that of an octogenarian.

Defending Japanese management of the crisis, government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday evening that the decision to quarantine passengers and crew members of the Diamond Princess was "appropriate". The effectiveness of the measure has been the subject of criticism abroad for several days, in particular concerning the fate of the crew members, who continued to share a common room and take their meals together, while being in contact with the passengers. "I suspect that the people on board were not as isolated from others as you would have thought," Dr. Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the British University of East, told the Associated Press. Anglia.

"Inside the" Diamond Princess ", I was afraid"

Kentaro Iwata, a Japanese infectious disease specialist, went much further, saying in a video, after visiting the ship, “I have been to Africa to deal with the Ebola epidemic. I have been in other countries for cholera, in China for SARS, I have never been afraid of being infected myself. But inside the Diamond Princess , I was scared because there was no way to tell where the virus was. ” Regretting the absence on board of infection prevention professionals and a situation "managed entirely by bureaucrats", he placed himself in quarantine so as not to risk contaminating his family.

As a sign of a certain mistrust of these quarantine measures, disembarked passengers will again have to undergo isolation for 14 days, once they have returned to their respective countries. The United States had also taken the lead in evacuating 328 American nationals from the cruise ship by plane on Sunday. Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Hong Kong and Australia planned to do the same.

Government calls to avoid rallies

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at the heart of several political scandals, accuses this month of a sharp drop in popularity, and is also the subject of criticism from the opposition on his management of the coronavirus. Concern is also growing about the potential consequences of the epidemic: according to a survey by the news agency Kyodo, 82.5% of Japanese say they are "worried" or "relatively worried" about the negative impact it has could have on the Japanese economy.

The government announced on Sunday measures to avoid overcrowding in hospitals, calling in particular on people with symptoms to stay at home and to contact a consultation center set up specially for prolonged fever, breathing difficulties or fatigue. unusual. He also called for avoiding "non-essential" gatherings. The following day, the imperial agency announced that the public would not be welcomed in the Palace gardens for the emperor's birthday, on February 23.

The organizers of the Tokyo marathon, scheduled for March 1, have announced that the event will be closed this year to the 38,000 amateur runners who were to participate. Dr. Takayuki Karino, head of a clinic specializing in respiratory diseases interviewed by the newspaper Asahi , notes that the measure will certainly limit the grouping of runners, but that its effect will be negligible compared to the risks that daily promiscuity presents in the transports.

Crowded transportation difficult to avoid

Because if the Minister of Health also called to avoid crowded trains, following this recommendation is difficult for many employees. Some companies encourage their employees to take transport outside rush hour, but the majority are reluctant to telecommute: according to a survey by Reuters, 83% of Japanese companies do not allow it, and 73% do not plan to not to put it in place during the Olympic Games this summer.

Despite government calls to manufacturers and increased production, getting masks in stores remains difficult. However, the fact of carrying it is generalized in transport as in the streets. A phenomenon accentuated by the appearance, in recent days, of the first signs of allergy to pollen, which causes the Archipelago to cough and sneeze each spring. On Tuesday, in the Tokyo metro, screens were broadcasting the advertising tutorial of a cosmetic manufacturer, offering women this piece of makeup advice for the days when they wear a mask: insist on the eyes with black mascara.

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