BA.5 – COVID 7th wave in Japan and holiday season

-

 

Our local shrine’s festival resumed for the first time in three years.

Streets were once again jolly with illuminated lanterns. Kids were playing wood flute and drums to add festive feeling. They were performing the music in front of train station. People enjoyed the music in the evening.

 

I assume that the shrine must have planned the festival when the number of corona patients were decreasing daily – at least until June 2022. People must have put much effort into the preparation, looking forward once again to practice the music, drew out the portable shrine (Omikoshi) ready to be carried around the town, and float to carry the music bands.




 

Before COVID-19, the festival was like these;

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oWNuFH-CIg


https://youtu.be/97cu-n3QXrc



I watched the children playing music with somewhat mixed feeling. By the time the festival started, the number of COVID-19 patients were increasing at tremendous speed. I was tracking only the daily figure in Tokyo where I work – By the time the shrine festival started, the COVID positive cases hit more than 30K.

 

More in detail by the Indian Express here


People’s movement in Japan to and from oversea are now open. People come to Japan, or go to abroad mainly on business and study. Which, obviously means that new variant will coming into Japan. I believe now we caught up with rest of the world in terms of new variants spreading across our border.

 

The new variant we are seeing right now is BA.5. According media reports, this variant is quite transmissible.

 

My hope was that the kids and young people participated to the shrine festival did not catch corona. At the same time, it was slightly sad that the new variant is spreading Japan now, when people want to travel abroad once the holiday season starts at the end of July.

 

I was optimistically hoping that the oversea travel will resume normally, possibly within this year – I think I was wrong.

 

All we are waiting for is medicine for COVID-19, not just vaccine. People’s movement will be much easier once medicine is developed, which, unfortunately the world has yet to see.

 

Until then, I guess we would have to stick to so called “new normal”- wear masks, wash hands, keep distance, and do testing before taking flights to anywhere in the world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Zophia University Trilogy (1): The Faulty Life Skills of a Former Expat at Zophia University

-
Image
This is a fiction based on my personal experience at a university in Tokyo, back in early 1990's   ------------------------------------------------------   I first noticed her in October 1987, during the admissions interview at Zophia University in Tokyo.   The English department, my dream destination, had a rigorous selection process—both a written test and an interview. Having cleared the written test, I received the much-anticipated interview invitation.   I’d spent five years in the northwest of England during my secondary school years. This background gave me an advantage, but my motivations ran deeper than just fluency. I wanted to study linguistics, to truly understand the English language from every angle. My aspirations spanned teaching, translation, or even interpreting. I had a lot riding on this.   The interview was to last just ten minutes—a brief window to define my future. How it would go, I couldn’t predict, but I’d prepared myself as best I coul...
Read more

Zophia University Trilogy (3): : Former Expats are Cheat : 80's American Obsession

-
Image
    This is a story of a Japanese girl who was totally obsessed with Ameirca, based on my real experience of encountering many people at a University in Tokyo back in  90's.. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   I never lose. No way, no how. That’s just not me. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been obsessed with America. Like, OBSESSED. Back in the Showa era, around 1970's, Japan was flooded with all this American stuff—TV shows, movies, music. You name it. And let’s be real: America is just... wow. It’s the best at everything. Biggest, strongest, richest. The land of freedom and opportunity. Where else has THAT much influence on the whole world? Nowhere. America’s the kind of country everyone looks up to. The kind of country people dream about. The kind of country that someone as amazing as me deserves to be in. Someday, I’ll live there. I’ll talk just like them....
Read more

Short Novel : Japanese students in an International School Setting

-
Image
  The morning sky was heavy with grey clouds, the kind that pressed low over the city and whispered of snow yet to fall. It was one of those bitter January days when the air seemed to nip at your skin even through the thickest coat. As I drew back the curtains, the faintest blush of sunrise struggled to light the horizon, promising little comfort. It was 1986, the heart of the Showa era back in Japan, but here in London, the year had dawned with the same bleak winter mornings the city was known for. I forced myself out of my warm bed, the comfort of the covers reluctantly traded for the routine of getting ready. Breakfast was quick, a silent ritual shared with my mother before I gathered my essentials: a pencil case, a small notebook, my wallet, and the lunch my mother had lovingly packed. "Off I go," I called as I slipped on my thick, black coat, its padding a small defence against the cold. "Take care," my mother replied. I nodded, stepping out into the frosty air...
Read more