Corona Diaries

Yuto

“I am also careful about shopping. When entering or leaving the store, always carry out alcohol disinfection.

I make it a rule not to touch the handle of a shopping basket or a shopping cart.”

Background Information

Male, aged 25-34, University Professor, Japan, Asian, Married with children.

April 2020

In January, the situation in Japan regarding the new corona virus was not widely reported. In late January,

however, a number of people who were not in China were found to be infected with the virus. In February,

as the number of people infected in China and outside Japan increased, the number of infected people in

Japan gradually increased, but a certain number of people complained about the slow implementation of

immigration controls and other measures.

News of the contagion in Europe, including Italy and Spain, began circulating in Japan earlier this month,

but the numbers were low in Japan (Excluding those infected on a large cruise ship anchored at Yokohama

Port) before the announcement of a delay in the Tokyo Olympics.

However, since February, business trips abroad and domestic business trips have begun to be asked to

refrain from doing so, and work has been affected. Due in part to the spread of the infection in downtown

areas at night, all nighttime drinking parties and parties were cancelled or postponed.

The number of infected people has increased sharply since the postponement of the Olympics was

announced. It is said that this is because the number of tests has increased.

On April 7, Prime Minister Abe declared a state of emergency. Restrictions on self-restraint on outings were

issued in seven areas, mainly in large cities, and some industries and stores were asked to close their

doors. However, there were places where the number of infected people was high in other areas, and there

were requests from various areas to include them in the areas subject to the emergency declaration, so on

April 16, the emergency declaration was issued to all areas in the country. In all cases, the deadline was

set for May 6.

Unlike other countries, Japan did not enforce urban blockades (lockdown), but tried to stop the spread of

infection by calling for the cooperation of each person "request". They stopped going out, moving between

areas, and working at home. Nevertheless, the number of infected people continued to increase until late

April. As of the end of April, more than 10,000 people were infected with Covid-19 in Japan (About 400

people died.). Since the beginning of May, the period for declaring a state of emergency has been

extended.

However, Ehime Prefecture, where I live, is far from major cities, and there have been no reports of new

infections in the past week or so.

In the case of universities, graduation ceremonies at the end of March and entrance ceremonies at the

beginning of April were cancelled. Especially because the graduation ceremony was cancelled, I lost the

opportunity to miss my students. That was very unfortunate. When the new school year started, all classes

were switched to a remote style, forcing teachers to make major changes to their classroom preparation,

which was based on face-to-face teaching. The use of various tools provided an opportunity for class

reform, but it was a difficult task for older teachers and other teachers unfamiliar with ICT. Primary schools,

middle schools and high schools also began new terms in April, but they have been closed. Taking this

opportunity, the government is considering changing the entrance system to September, the same as in the

United States and Europe.

In March, the conference was cancelled or postponed until summer, and many researchers changed their

research plans. I couldn't carry out the investigation that I had planned.

Elementary schools have been closed since the beginning of March, and even when the new school year

begins, there is no prospect of going to school. As of the end of April, my daughter has been at home all

day for two months. After the declaration of the state of emergency was issued, people have been requ ired

to refrain from going out of their homes when it is not necessary or urgent. To be honest, however, we go to

places like the beach, which is not so popular, to let our daughter play in order to relieve her stress. Of

course, dense, tight, and sealed spaces are completely avoided. The father worked at home and the

mother's office was closed completely, so she managed to take care of the child.

I am also careful about shopping. When entering or leaving the store, always carry out alcohol disinfection.

I make it a rule not to touch the handle of a shopping basket or a shopping cart. Some stores run out of

very limited foods, such as spaghetti and retort foods. Disinfectant, hand soap and wet wipes are also in

short supply. Needless to say, the mask was not available for purchase for a long time. However, a variety

of companies began to produce new masks, and by the end of April, lower-quality and more expensive

masks became available. At my university, disposable gauze was distributed to all staff members to reuse

the mask.

I became 20 years old in 2006 and was legally allowed to drink. I think I often go out for a drink, but I

wonder if there was such a period when I didn't drink at a restaurant. No, I don't. It seems to be very hard to

run a restaurant at night. In order to support such restaurants, I sometimes ordered takeout goods. At the

end of April, it will be difficult to receive compensation from the central and local governments for absence

from work.

The government tried to institutionalize support payments for households with greatly reduced incomes

because of a decrease in income due to the suspension of work or employment, and an increase in living

expenses due to an increase in the number of hours at home. However, this system was very unpopular

because the eligibility requirements were very limited, and the method of recognition was complicated.

Therefore, the ruling party presented an alternative plan, "100,000 yen is paid uniformly to all people, and

there is no income limit." and it was decided that the benefits would be paid under this plan.

In addition to these policies, the Japanese government's response to the new Corona virus seems to be

inconsistent, and the people, including myself, seem to have a lot of discontent and anxiety.

June and July 2020

In June, the number of newly infected patients gradually decreased. However, the disease spread again in

large cities from late June to mid-July. In the second half of July, the number of infected people increased

again across the country. At the end of July, the number of infected people increased faster than in April.

The central and local governments said the increase was due to a sharp increase in the number of

inspections. However, there is no sign of a decline in August.

On the other hand, the number of seriously injured persons among those who tested positive has remained

extremely low since around April. The reason for this is said to be that most of the people examined and

those infected were young people. There are rumours that the virus may be attenuated, but the truth is

unknown. Anyway, the virus infection is spreading again. At the local government level, a state of

emergency and alerts have been issued, but the central government does not declare a state of

emergency. It has been pointed out that a state of emergency should be declared again, and the majority of

the public opinion is that the infection is not under control. On the other hand, economic activities must be

revived. The tourism industry, which relies on the movement of people, was hit hard.

So, the government launched a Go To Travel campaign. The government subsidizes about half of the cost

of the trip, with the aim of promoting the movement of people and stimulating economic activities mainly in

tourism. The campaign was originally scheduled to start in August but was moved forward to the

consecutive holidays in the latter half of July. While the number of people infected with the virus per day is

the highest in Tokyo, Osaka and other major cities, local governments are urging people to take action to

avoid infection and to refrain from working late at night. In this situation, the promotion of economic policies

that move people was ridiculed as "The policy of stepping on the accelerator and the brake at the same

time is chaotic.".

This contradictory norm of moving to activate the economy and not moving to prevent the spread of

infection has continued to have a significant impact on our lives and leisure. During the holidays in late July,

many people moved, but others endured the move. Excessive self-restraint is not good, but some people

who travelled during the holidays were reported to have been infected with the virus. It is really difficult to

determine what action is best in this situation.

August 2020

Meanwhile, elementary, middle and high school students are on summer vacation, and it is time to judge

grades in university classes. Since face-to-face classes were almost impossible, it is very difficult to grasp

the students' learning situation. We had to set up more reports than usual. Therefore, students must have

been burdened with more tasks than usual. There were more questions and complaints from students than

in previous years. Later, I was told by a student that there were some horrible online classes where

students were only asked to watch a video for three minutes and write a report.

Last semester I scored about 300 reports and gave feedback with comments. Until last year, when the

classes were held face-to-face, I didn't give much feedback on comments, but I felt I needed to be polite

online.

September and October 2020

In Japan, there was a consecutive holiday in the middle of August, and many people were expected to

move. However, as in the past, many people seem to have refrained from returning hometown. It is not

clear whether this is the reason, but from late August to early September, fears over the spread of the

disease after the Golden Week holidays turned out to be groundless. Although many elementary, junior

high and high schools began the fall semester in late August, there were far fewer reported outbreaks in

schools than initially expected (It was not zero, about 100 people were infected in a high school soccer

dorm).

At universities, on the other hand, there is a heated debate over whether to conduct the second semester

online or face-to-face. Why don't universities offer face-to-face classes even though elementary, middle and

high schools do? Such opinions were received from students and their parents, and the Minister of

Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology also made such comments and asked universities to

do so. On the other hand, the university side said as follows. Unlike high school students and younger

students, university students have a wide range of activities, and since they come from various areas, they

are at high risk of infection, so it is not possible to meet them face to face. As a result of these exchanges

of views, many universities have decided to give priority face-to-face classes to first-year students who

have never been to the university, and to use these classes together with online classes.

Some academic societies had no choice but to cancel their annual research meetings. However, many

academic conferences held online. This was probably the first attempt in the history of most academic

societies. I was involved in running the online conference, albeit in a fairly peripheral role. The conference

was able to set up and implement a fairly complete website dedicated to the event and an online

subcommittee, thanks to a generous budget invested in putting the event online. The participants'

impressions after the tournament seemed very satisfactory. However, I felt that there were limitations in

meeting new researchers and building networks, which are the best part of face-to-face meetings. In the

future, it is necessary to consider the ideal way of the research conference and the ideal way of the institute

communication in the form of coexisting with the corona virus. It was a research conference that made me

feel that way.

As of October, the spread of the disease across the country has calmed down. Nevertheless,

approximately 100 to 200 new infections are reported every day in large cities, mainly in Tokyo, and

clusters occur occasionally in other cities. He has not met with his family since January because of the

spread of the disease. On the other hand, from the end of September, meetings will be held with some

long-distance collaborators through a remote conference system and joint research will be conducted. It is

mentally very tiring to carry out work while being careful to avoid infection, but this may be the process of

"new way of life" "new daily routine" or groping for it. We still have a long way to go to reach the “after

corona”.

November and December 2020

In November, the temperature dropped, and the air began to dry. Then, as had been expected, new

infections began to increase. The number of people infected with the virus increased in Tokyo and Osaka,

while the infection spread to cold areas in northern Japan, including Hokkaido. In Asahikawa, the Self-

Defence Forces were dispatched at the request of local governments after medical services collapsed.

Nationwide, the number of new infections per day in the second half of November was about the same as

around August, which was the third wave.

Since then, the spread of the disease has spread nationwide, and in December, the spread has not

declined at all. In some areas, enlargement seemed to have been temporarily restrained, but in others it

has increased rapidly and is far from being settled. Throughout December, the number of new infections

rose sharply, finally falling short of summer. In late December, there were more than 8 times more new

infections reported each day than when the State of Emergency was declared in April, and in early January

2021, more than 10 times more new infections were reported each day. Finally, the Government of Japan

decided to limit the area to the Tokyo metropolitan area and reissue the Declaration of Emergency

Situation. This was issued at the request of local governments. A rapid increase in the number of infected

people has been reported in areas outside the Tokyo metropolitan area, and the area where the declaration

of a state of emergency is issued may expand in the future.

Since October 2020, I've conducted most of my college classes online. Only small classes with a few

participants were held face-to-face. The face-to-face classroom was always or regularly ventilated, but it

was very cold. I found it more difficult to prevent infection than in the summer. This may also be related to

the spread of infection during the cold months after November.

In Japan, the college-entrance season starts in January and March when the temperature drops to the

lowest. As of January, our university staff are busy preparing for the entrance exam. Under these

circumstances, a declaration of a limited area emergency was issued, imposing restrictions on living and

business. However, the Education Ministry said it would carry out university entrance examinations as

planned. Preparations for entrance examinations have become extremely complicated, with the

government having to take unprecedented measures to prevent the spread of the disease. It will be a very

confusing and tense college entrance examination for both examinees and universities.

In December, the number of people infected with the virus increased nationwide, and the central and local

governments repeatedly urged people to refrain from traveling to their hometowns or having meals during

the year-end and New Year holidays. In fact, I planned to return to my parents' home as usual from the end

of December to the beginning of January. However, due to the record number of new infections per day in

the area where I live and the health condition of my family, I stopped returning home just in case. Since I

returned parents’ home every year during the year-end and New Year holidays, this was the first time that I

had greeted the New Year outside of my parents' home.