[kj] how is everyone?

[Jim Harper]

 I'm in Japan and generally okay. The government finally declared an emergency situation starting today, with seven major areas in lockdown. It's a Japanese lockdown, which means people are "urged" to use "self-restraint" and go out only when necessary, and the announcement has no legal force behind it. Basically, it's up to the individual. Oh, and the schools have re-opened today, so I suspect it will have zero impact on the disease.

I'm not in one of the seven areas, and we haven't had too many cases. Prominent one involved a high school girl who went on a graduation trip to the UK (!), caught the virus and then insisted on attending the graduation ceremony (!!!), against the wishes of the school and her parents. Also, the Japanese have a tradition of fleeing to their ancestral villages in the countryside in times of trouble, so remote areas are experiencing sudden spikes in cases, and given that Hiroshima is relatively safe right, I reckon we'll have a lot more cases soon.

I no longer use the train, so my world is where I can walk around here. We're stocking food and essentials (y'know, tobacco and so forth). I always work from home, but the concept is almost entirely unknown in Japan, so it's not going to have much of an impact.

I'm worried, because it's running rampant around here. The official test figures are a joke, because until recently you could only get a test if (a) you'd been to one of the badly hit countries, or (b) you'd been in contact with a known sufferer. The Department of health did a survey on the biggest social media app in Japan, and it suggested that 7% of of people in Tokyo have between 1-5 symptoms of coronavirus. They also don't test the dead here, so the real death toll is also unknown.

So, yes, I'm worried, and being as careful as possible, but I'm okay and a lot better off than many Gatherers.

Jim.     On Tuesday, 7 April 2020, 21:26:24 GMT+9, jpwhkj--- via Gathering <gathering at misera.net> wrote:  
 
 And in particular, our NY gatherers.  Sounds particularly grim over there.
Here on the outskirts of London, everything seems a strange combination of normal and weird.  Normal because we're all fine and getting on with life, weird because everything feels like it's on hold.
Jamie_______________________________________________
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