Japan faces a 7th wave of Covid-19, the health situation is deteriorating
The coronavirus is once again disrupting the lives of Japanese people.
In Tokyo, July 28, 2022. © AP - Shuji Kajiyama
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
In Japan, the health situation is becoming critical.
According to the World Health Organization, no other country currently has so many daily cases of Covid-19: 220,000, on average.
Advertising
Read more
With our correspondent in Tokyo,
Bruno Duval
This is unheard of in
the archipelago
.
So far, he had managed to avoid the worst.
To date, around 32,000 Japanese have died from the coronavirus, which is quite a few for 125 million inhabitants.
But here he is hit by a particularly violent seventh wave which is only just beginning, warn epidemiologists.
Most of the Japanese infected recently are under thirty years old.
This is explained:
two out of three young people did not want the booster dose
and 80% of parents of children under the age of twelve refused to allow them to be inoculated.
This vaccine mistrust has a direct impact on the health situation.
"
I'm on my knees.
So many children and even babies with high fevers – some having convulsions!
– I had absolutely never seen that
, “says a pediatrician.
Overwhelmed health service
“
I had to make forty phone calls before finding a doctor able to examine my baby, who had a fever of 38.
Our health system seems to be faltering...
", testifies for her part a young mother.
This SAMU manager confirms this: “
In certain regions of the country, people who are victims of a serious accident or whose state of health deteriorates suddenly no longer have the assurance of being taken care of quickly.
»
The Japanese oscillate between apprehension and annoyance.
“
I'm probably going to cancel the seaside vacation I had planned for next week.
It seems more prudent to me...
”, says a man.
“
It is high time to declare the state of emergency again!
asks a woman.
But the government refuses.
The Japanese economy is slow to take off again compared to those of other major industrialized countries, in his eyes, that is the number one priority.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
Japan
Coronavirus