Coronavirus: Japanese government criticized for handling the crisis

Text by: RFI Follow

While 88 new cases of Sars-CoV-2 were confirmed on Wednesday, February 19, on the liner "Diamond Princess" in Yokohama, the disembarkation of passengers will continue. Under a rain of criticism.

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With our correspondent in Tokyo, Bruno Duval

At least 621 people are infected with Sars-CoV-2 on board the quarantined liner in the port of Yokohama, Japan . However, the landing operation of healthy cruise passengers , which began on Wednesday February 19 with 500 people, will continue until Friday, February 21.

At least one in six cruise lines has been contaminated, and this assessment is still not final.

Boats, " nests of microbes "

Despite the measures taken to ensure that the landed civilians are in good health, a rain of criticism falls on the Japanese government, accused of having mismanaged this health crisis. According to a prominent professor at Kobe University, the situation on board is " chaotic ". Statements made in a video that is a hit in Japan.

Other specialists confirm that, at the beginning of the epidemic in any case, the health precautions taken on board were not sufficient. They add that the boats being " nests of microbes ", it is on shore that this quarantine should have taken place. The problem is that no hospital could accommodate the 3,711 occupants of the ship, replies the government.

In Japan, the tone rises

Many criticisms are also made on the fact that the government has not always been up to the task: it has been slow, for example, to test all cruise passengers. The tourist landings that took place on Wednesday morning did not help matters. Even if they were in good health at the time of the tests, for epidemiologists, the decision to remove them is incomprehensible given the delay in incubating the disease and the confirmation of 88 new cases the same day.

In the Japanese Parliament, tension has escalated on this subject. The Japanese are also unhappy with the way the crisis has been managed, according to several polls. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in his little shoes, especially because his popularity has just plummeted due to political and financial scandals.

► To read: The Covid-19 coronavirus in 7 points

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• Japan
• coronavirus
• Health and Medicine

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