Weekly Update: News on Japan & the Netherlands – Week 35, 2020

That means many permanent and other long-term residents who have made Japan their home remain stuck outside the country, unable to carry on with their livelihoods and suffering enormous financial pain as bills pile up.

Others face agonizing decisions such as whether to leave Japan to attend a funeral or care for a sick family member, for fear they will not be allowed back. Western business lobbies have slammed the government’s policy, saying it is out of step with measures in other major economies and will harm investment.

NHK said the government had received “many opinions” calling on it to relax the restrictions for the resumption of social and economic activities. About 2.6 million foreigners have residence status, and the government plans to expand testing at airports to accommodate the expected increase in traffic after the easing of the restrictions, NHK said.

Miyake said treatment has to take account of the possibilities of both COVID-19 and heat-related conditions when staff cannot rule out the possibility of coronavirus infection. “There is a risk that the medical system will collapse” if this situation continues, he added.

Amid fears that mask-wearing to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus could itself cause heatstroke or heat exhaustion, 12,804 people were taken to hospital across Japan between 10 and 16 August for heat-related conditions, up from 6,664 people the previous week, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

In central Tokyo, the death toll from heatstroke or heat exhaustion in August stood at 79 as of Tuesday last week, compared with zero through July, with 73 of them, or about 90%, aged 60 or older, according to a tally by the Tokyo Medical Examiner’s Office.

While scorching heat has been a problem in Japan in recent years amid global warming, experts have suggested that the longer-than-usual rainy season this year with particularly overcast weather made it harder for people to physically adapt to the sudden rise in temperatures this month. During the rainy season, many regions in Japan lacked sunlight in July and people could not gradually get used to hotter weather, they said.

The exact number of people using the campaign was not released Monday and the government tally does not take into account people taking more than one trip.

Despite concerns that the campaign could lead to a rise in infections, Suga said the government will continue the program, while taking into account the views of health experts as and when needed to prevent the spread of the virus.

“There are 9 million people working in the tourism industry and we can say that the industry is dying,” he told a press conference.

According to the government, 16,703, or only about half of the eligible lodging operators, have registered with the program as of Thursday, with some of them shying away from registration due to the complex process to claim benefits and the problems of informing travel associations and other parties of the number of guests they have received.

With many small- and medium-sized lodging operators opting not to register, the Japan Tourism Agency has extended its deadline, originally set for Friday.

Under the 1.35 trillion yen (€10.7 billion) tourism push, the government will eventually subsidize up to half of a person’s travel expenses, including accommodation and transport fees. Initially, it provides discounts worth 35% of total costs.

The remaining 15% will be covered by coupons to be issued after September for food, shopping and other travel activities offered at destinations.

The online meeting will be held on 3 September, with delegates from about 60 countries and territories taking part.

Panel discussions will also be held with representatives from businesses and college students. In conclusion, participants are expected to issue a joint statement.

Japan’s Environment Minister Koizumi Shinjiro will chair the conference. He told reporters that although the pandemic has created a different situation in each country, they should not forget about climate change. He added that he wants to see the participants share what they know about the pandemic and increase momentum to address the issue.

Visitors need to make bookings in advance to visit the museum. Up to 60 visitors will be allowed into the museum every 30 minutes. The flame will be displayed till 1 November. A plan is in the works to circulate the Olympic flame across Japan for public viewing.

Not all of the confirmed cases, hospital admissions or deaths that were reported during the past week also occurred within the last week. Some patients are reported later. For this reason, the figures are often supplemented with previous reports that had not yet been included. Since it is likely that not all people who have COVID-19 will get tested, the actual numbers in the Netherlands are probably higher than the numbers stated here.

There is not yet a clear explanation as to how the patients could become infected again. The amount of antibodies produced by a patient may possibly have played a role in the re-infection. For example, donor blood from corona patients has shown that people with more severe complaints often built up more antibodies than people with mild complaints. In addition, it has not yet been established how long the antibodies that have been built up will protect against a subsequent infection, said Koopmans.

Koopmans added that these re-infections are no reason for panic. Certainly not in the Dutch case, where the patient concerned had a weakened immune system. “We have to investigate these cases carefully and see if it occurs more often,” she added.

On Monday, researchers in Hong Kong confirmed for the first time a second infection with the corona virus. Although a possible re-infection was previously reported in several places in the world, it has now been scientifically proven for the first time.

According to the researchers, this is an “apparently young and healthy patient” who was diagnosed with a second infection 4.5 months after the first case. The discovery seems to indicate that immunity of some patients after corona infection only lasts a few months.

Last year had two heatwaves and both came with an increased number of deaths. During the first heatwave, from 22 to 27 July, almost 400 more people died than in an average summer week. During the Netherlands’ longest and most intense heatwave in a century in July 2006, an estimated 1 thousand more people died. Though in a heatwave in 2018, there were hardly any extra deaths. The stats office thinks this had to do with higher mortality during a flu epidemic earlier that year.

Deaths during a heatwave mainly occur in people aged 80 and older, the stats office said. In this past heatwave, about 300 people aged 80 and older died.

Due to the crowds at the test streets, the Ministry of Health and the GGDs emphasized again on Monday that corona tests must only be taken by people who suffer from symptoms of the virus.

According to the ministry, the test streets are under pressure due to the increasing interest in corona tests. Where necessary, it is examined how the expanded testing policy can be used more effectively. For example, it is being investigated how effective it is to have travelers returning from orange or red areas tested for the corona virus immediately.

The fine for not wearing a mask in Amsterdam is 95 euros. It used to be 395 euros, because the Public Prosecution Service had not given it a specific so-called fact code, so the municipality had to use the general fact code for violating social distancing and other coronavirus related rules. But during a committee meeting on Thursday, Halsema announced that a fact code had been created specifically for the mask obligation, NU.nl reports.

“That is good news. It was complicated to operate with a fine that we actually found disproportionate to the mask obligation we impose,” Halsema said.

“And Amsterdam is the big magnet for foreign tourists. So hotels in that city have been hit hardest by the corona crisis, ” said Bloem. In the second quarter, the capital welcomed 92% fewer guests than a year earlier.

The result is that many hotels have run into financial difficulties. In recent years, less than 5 hotels usually went bankrupt in the second quarter, compared to 19 in the second quarter of 2020 . 

Manager Roberto Payer of Waldorf Astoria hotel in Amsterdam, where 70 of the 90 rooms are empty, told RTL Z that his hotel will survive the crisis, because Waldorf Astoria is a chain that can handle the hardships. Yet here too job losses are inevitable. According to Payer, 50 of the 180 jobs at Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam will disappear. Across Amsterdam, 10,000 jobs will be lost in the hotel sector, Payer estimates.

CBS expects the recovery to continue in the third quarter. Because many Dutch people choose a holiday in their own country this summer due to the corona virus . As a result, the tourist accommodations will continue to improve in July, August and September.

This applies especially to campsites and bungalow parks. It is expected that the hotels in the big cities, which mainly rely on foreign tourists, will be continue to have a hard time.

The CPB expects the jobless total to peak at 6.5% next year, and then drop gradually to around 4.3%. However, if a vaccine takes longer to develop, or if there is a second wave of infections, the damage to the labour market will be deeper and more long-lasting, the researchers said.

However, Groningen University economics professor Peter Verhoef is optimistic and told local paper Dagblad van het Noorden that the Netherlands is currently in a ‘unique’ economic crisis and is well positioned to recover compared with other countries.

“Consumer confidence is lower due to fear of the virus. People don’t want to be out and about too much. That is one aspect of this crisis. People also anticipate losing their jobs and are therefore careful. They save more money. And a third cause is that part of the expenditure cannot be used, for example in the catering industry, holidays, events, much is not possible,” he said.

“We have never experienced that in recent times. That also means that a standard statement does not work. Very strange things are happening in the economy. The event industry is at a standstill, the catering industry is hit hard, tourism is having a hard time as well. But at the same time, Drenthe has never had so many tourists. Certain sectors are actually doing very well. Webshops, the entire digital world, do-it-yourself businesses. Webcams cannot be towed, but also office chairs for the home. The housing market continues to do well. ”

The retail sector is struggling. “But specialty stores are doing well. People do have money to spend and want quality. They may buy less expensive suits because they don’t have to go to work, but they’ll want a new sweater for at home. ”