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NEWS: Japan to Lift Limits on Event Capacity on May 8


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Blazi



Joined: 25 Oct 2021
Posts: 501
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2023 6:34 pm Reply with quote
Shows the animes being delayed in question are probably not covid related. Not surprising as it's Aniplex. At least they are better than Kadokawa... though not by much.
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5521
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2023 6:38 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The task force also decided to "downgrade" COVID-19 to the same category of infectious diseases as seasonal influenza. These changes will go into effect on May 8, although Prime Minister Kishida Fumi stated that the government will hear from experts before downgrading COVID-19.


Literally right after they had the spike that gave them the most deaths out of the entire pandemic. this move makes no sense other than them giving up. which they shouldn't do. so many countries such as America have having hundreds of people die a week and it's sad to see people don't care anymore
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CrypticPurpose



Joined: 15 Jan 2020
Posts: 320
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2023 8:08 pm Reply with quote
Now we sit back, and watch the death toll rise...

I'm so tired of all this pointless, largely preventable death.

Does Japan really need to copy the rest of the world, when we've failed so badly?
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4566
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2023 9:08 pm Reply with quote
Kougeru wrote:
Literally right after they had the spike that gave them the most deaths out of the entire pandemic. this move makes no sense other than them giving up. which they shouldn't do. so many countries such as America have having hundreds of people die a week and it's sad to see people don't care anymore

I don't mean to minimize this disease at all (I have a member of my household who's immunocompromised and has received not multiple boosters, but multiple full-fledged vaccine doses to jumpstart their immunity), and the continued death toll from it is absolutely tragic. But there does come a time when continued restrictions start to represent diminishing returns. This is especially true given how much of the population in many countries now has multiple types of immunity, from both vaccines and prior infections. (Hell, I'm sitting on two types of the former and latter myself.) Society just isn't built to handle indefinite lockdowns. The entire point of those restrictions was to keep people safe until that sort of societal immunity was available, which is now the case in many countries; of course higher-risk individuals may still need to be more cautious. I don't know enough to say how successful Japan has been in that regard, but I do know that we've seen the alternative play out in China, and the endgame is proving to be as disastrous as everyone predicted.
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LadonTree



Joined: 24 Dec 2022
Posts: 24
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2023 9:15 pm Reply with quote
When COVID was new, people fear it because it was unknown. Now people not in at risk groups stopped caring. From panic to complacency.
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kotomikun



Joined: 06 May 2013
Posts: 1205
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2023 11:36 pm Reply with quote
The pandemic is now 3 years old. Whether it's beneficial or not, it's not realistic to expect people to stay in complete lockdown for that long. Even China's authoritarian government finally had to cave to protests (over ludicrous situations like people dying in apartment fires because the police barricaded them inside to enforce quarantine), and now they're speedrunning infections because of minimal herd immunity and not enough vaccinations. The flu and other seasonal viruses were much worse this year (all over the world) for similar reasons, and that was going to happen at some point unless we stayed home for the rest of our lives.

There were still a lot of stupid decisions made earlier on, by both institutions and individuals, that greatly increased death tolls... especially in America. But no experts are seriously advocating mass lockdowns anymore. It's not 1918. We have several different vaccines and mass-produced N95s. At some point, you have to let people go outside again.
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Vanadise



Joined: 06 Apr 2015
Posts: 488
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2023 12:01 am Reply with quote
kotomikun wrote:
Whether it's beneficial or not, it's not realistic to expect people to stay in complete lockdown for that long.

Ok, but you know that's not what this is about, right? This is about restricting capacity for large events, not lockdowns. Japan has never had a mandatory lockdown.
Top Gun wrote:
Society just isn't built to handle indefinite lockdowns.

What is it about throwing safety precautions to the wind that makes people feel the need to justify it by creating a false dichotomy where the only alternative is an indefinite lockdown?

Like, is it really so hard to see that maybe there's a middle ground between "nobody is allowed to leave their houses" and "it's ok to cram a few hundred thousand people into crowded, poorly ventilated rooms"? Can we accept at some point that this kind of behavior is inherently reckless and dangerous, and the lesson to be learned from all of this is that events should have caps on attendance based on what the venue can safely support?
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Cardcaptor Takato



Joined: 27 Jan 2018
Posts: 4787
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2023 3:25 am Reply with quote
Top Gun wrote:
The entire point of those restrictions was to keep people safe until that sort of societal immunity was available, which is now the case in many countries; of course higher-risk individuals may still need to be more cautious. I don't know enough to say how successful Japan has been in that regard, but I do know that we've seen the alternative play out in China, and the endgame is proving to be as disastrous as everyone predicted.
I don't understand this line of reasoning that because a thing worked the way it intended to stop the spread of a disease that can literally kill you we should then stop doing the ting that worked to stop it. This is like arguing because washing hands was helpful in stopping the spread of germs during the pandemic we should all stop washing our hands (please don't).
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yoloswag4satan



Joined: 28 Jan 2023
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2023 6:42 am Reply with quote
Kougeru wrote:
Quote:
The task force also decided to "downgrade" COVID-19 to the same category of infectious diseases as seasonal influenza. These changes will go into effect on May 8, although Prime Minister Kishida Fumi stated that the government will hear from experts before downgrading COVID-19.


Literally right after they had the spike that gave them the most deaths out of the entire pandemic. this move makes no sense other than them giving up. which they shouldn't do. so many countries such as America have having hundreds of people die a week and it's sad to see people don't care anymore


errr...it's simply time to move on. nobody is pointing a gun to anyone's head and say you have to leave your home
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2023 7:07 am Reply with quote
Most Japanese clinics are small and aren't equipped to handle and isolate Covid patients (they may only have 1 or 2 rooms)

At Category 5, any possible Covid-infected patient can go to any small Japanese clinic, possibly spreading it to other sick patients
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2023 8:03 am Reply with quote
yoloswag4satan wrote:
enurtsol wrote:
Most Japanese clinics are small and aren't equipped to handle and isolate Covid patients (they may only have 1 or 2 rooms)

At Category 5, any possible Covid-infected patient can go to any small Japanese clinic, possibly spreading it to other sick patients


it's just a common cold, a sniffle. stay home for a few days and get over it Rolling Eyes


A.) Japanese go to clinics or hospital for anything. Just something they do as normal.

B.) Japan has a high percentage of senior citizens, a vulnerable group.

C.) People in the clinics are already sick with something; that's why they're in the clinic. Adding another sickness to them is the opposite of the goal.

D.) Some afflicted people get Long Covid, including loss of taste. Doctors still haven't found how and why that is.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 5893
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2023 4:27 pm Reply with quote
yoloswag4satan wrote:
i knew this whole thing was a scam when we were all told like 6 year olds to be hygienic and wash our hands. isn't that what a sane person is supposed to do anyway?


People are supposed to cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze and yet not everyone does so. Some during the pandemic even willingly coughed on people.

You underestimate the laziness and selfishness of people.

yoloswag4satan wrote:


basically if you are scared of it stay home and hide under your bed. let everyone else live their lives whom had 2-3 years stolen from and will never be able to get back


Were all these people locked up in prison for 30 years on bullshit charges?

Were they subjected to parental abuse & neglect for most of their adolescent and teen lives?

No? okay so these people didn’t have their lives stolen from them. Especially in comparison to people who likely died because of the recklessness of others who didn’t (& still don’t) take the virus seriously and to that end went around knowingly spreading or exposing others to the virus.

Quit the sensationalism.

ximpalullaorg wrote:
As another example, can someone still deny the catastrophic damage done to children by closing schools? - even if in Japan it was somewhat limited.


There was some consequences yes but let’s not pretend that sending kids to school in most countries especially ones with reckless adults who purposely don’t vaccinate their kids alongside those with compromised immune systems or sending them to school sick to potentially infect others was the more reasonable and intelligent solution.


Last edited by BadNewsBlues on Sun Jan 29, 2023 12:37 am; edited 2 times in total
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4566
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2023 5:52 pm Reply with quote
Vanadise wrote:

What is it about throwing safety precautions to the wind that makes people feel the need to justify it by creating a false dichotomy where the only alternative is an indefinite lockdown?

Like, is it really so hard to see that maybe there's a middle ground between "nobody is allowed to leave their houses" and "it's ok to cram a few hundred thousand people into crowded, poorly ventilated rooms"? Can we accept at some point that this kind of behavior is inherently reckless and dangerous, and the lesson to be learned from all of this is that events should have caps on attendance based on what the venue can safely support?

I never meant to suggest such a false dichotomy. I am well aware that there are many steps between a full lockdown and zero restrictions. What I meant was that there comes a point when those sorts of half-measures are going to have a minimal effect in terms of saving lives. The vast majority of fully vaccinated/boosted individuals who contract Covid are going to experience only minor respiratory symptoms, and residual protection from prior infections also plays a part. Once the general population reaches that prior immunity/exposure threshold, significant event restrictions may not have much tangible benefit. People who have certain pre-existing conditions and their household members may need to continue to be more cautious. As I said before, I don't know if Japan has reached that point yet, so I'll have to defer to those who do. I do know that the United States almost certainly has, much more down to how many people have already been infected once or twice than due to any competence (lol) in our early response to the pandemic.

Cardcaptor Takato wrote:
I don't understand this line of reasoning that because a thing worked the way it intended to stop the spread of a disease that can literally kill you we should then stop doing the ting that worked to stop it. This is like arguing because washing hands was helpful in stopping the spread of germs during the pandemic we should all stop washing our hands (please don't).

It's not really about whether something works or not, but instead when it was being done, and whether it still needs to be done. In 2020 and into 2021, when we didn't really have any other tools to fight this disease other than "stay away from other people as much as possible," then yes, substantial restrictions made perfect sense and saved a ton of lives. Now that we're in 2023, and large percentages of many countries are both vaccinated and boosted (to say nothing of any additional residual immunity conferred by widespread past infections), do they make as much sense now? I don't know that they do. Putting Covid in the same classification as influenza makes a good deal of sense on the surface: both are contagious respiratory illnesses that can be dangerous to vulnerable populations and cause significant numbers of deaths, yet both have periodically-updated vaccines that mitigate most of the risk for the majority of the population.

To give you some sense of where I'm coming from, I've worked in a school through the entirety of the pandemic. I went through the initial total lockdown in the spring of 2020, when the school completely shut down and we sent makeshift online assignments to the students because no one knew what they were doing. I went through an entire hybrid year from 2020-2021, with half of the students on Zoom on alternating days, trying (and failing) to get a bunch of teenagers to keep their damn masks over their noses, and standing there in a cafeteria full of spaced-out maskless students well before any vaccine was available. I went through the following year, with all of the students back in the building, which started out with mandated mask-wearing until it was made optional one day because, well, I guess we were done with them or something. I've had Covid twice, both times almost certainly due to exposure at work (and one of which necessitated renting a car and driving hundreds of miles home from a vacation by myself, but that's a story for another time). Covid has lost most of its fascination for me by this point, because I've been living it in a way that I suspect many people my own age were largely able to avoid.

I'm not some nutjob anti-vaxxer or anti-mask MAGAt. I religiously wore a mask in public up until the point when no one else around me was, and I realized there wasn't much point anymore. I've been vaccinated and boosted. But I'm also human, and three years' worth of restrictions start to wear on even the most well-intentioned person.
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coronasaurus



Joined: 28 Jan 2023
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2023 7:21 pm Reply with quote
The state flexing its muscles to protect citizens is fine when theres a new Virus like covid but when you reach the point of effective vaccinations and medicine being available for everyone its time to let the people decide themselves what they want to do. Not even commie dictator Winnie poo can keep this up.
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Cardcaptor Takato



Joined: 27 Jan 2018
Posts: 4787
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2023 9:33 pm Reply with quote
Top Gun wrote:

It's not really about whether something works or not, but instead when it was being done, and whether it still needs to be done. In 2020 and into 2021, when we didn't really have any other tools to fight this disease other than "stay away from other people as much as possible," then yes, substantial restrictions made perfect sense and saved a ton of lives. Now that we're in 2023, and large percentages of many countries are both vaccinated and boosted (to say nothing of any additional residual immunity conferred by widespread past infections), do they make as much sense now?

I can't speak for what it's like in Japan but at least in my county there were 1,266 deaths from COVID total in 2022. So I don't get where people think COVID is over or less deadly and this mindset is also ignoring the risk posed to people with at risk immune systems. Also it was like just a week ago we had like three or four anime shows that had to be put on hiatus for three months at least in part because of COVID even if it's also partly because of mismanagement. We keep doing this song and dance of lifting restrictions and then people are Pikachu face shocked when cases suddenly rise and we have to do restrictions again and people are like how did that happen. And I don't get why people in this thread act like the only two choices are either full on lockdowns or nothing at all when no one is even proposing full on lockdowns. But if people want even more anime shows delayed in the future that's going to happen if regulations aren't taken seriously.
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