Weekly Update: News on Japan & the Netherlands – Week 51, 2020

Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide announced that the government will temporarily suspend its “Go To Travel” campaign across the country from 28 December to 11 January. The move is aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus infections during the year-end and New Year holidays.

Suga made the announcement at a government taskforce meeting on Monday evening. The meeting was convened in response to calls by the coronavirus advisory panel that advised authorities to continue measures to exclude certain areas from the tourism campaign.

Suga pointed out that the number of infections continues to rise nationwide. He said various indexes suggest that more regions are seeing a surge in new infection cases. The prime minister also said that those who are tackling the outbreak on the front lines, such as medical workers, are becoming more burdened.

He stressed that the government will take maximum measures to ensure a good start to the New Year by preventing the further spread of the virus and reducing the burden on medical institutions.

He also disclosed plans to halt subsidies for travel to Tokyo and Nagoya, the capital of Aichi Prefecture, until 27 December, and to call on residents of those cities to refrain from traveling. Osaka and Sapporo had already been excluded from that program due to rising infections there.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Osaka Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi said he is grateful to many people that the center could open when hospital beds for seriously-ill patients are in short supply. He urged Osaka residents not to let their guard down against the virus, noting that reducing the number of infections is the utmost priority when medical resources are limited. Yoshimura added that he hopes all 30 beds will soon be available as operations get on track.

As the soon to be available COVID-19 vaccines must be stored at low temperatures, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will secure about 3,000 freezers with the capacity to store items at minus 75 C and about 7,500 freezers with a minus 20 C capability. It will also procure dry ice and cooler boxes for vaccination centers.

The vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE is required to be stored at minus 70 C or lower, while U.S. biotech firm Moderna Inc’s can be shipped and stored over a six-month period if kept in a standard freezer temperature of minus 20 C.

As vaccination against the virus could begin as early as March in Japan, the ministry will ask municipalities to prepare necessary venues and ready systems to accept reservations. Japan has agreed with Pfizer, Moderna, and Britain’s AstraZeneca Plc to receive sufficient numbers of vaccine doses to cover the entire population and more, earmarking a budget of 671.4 billion yen (€5.3 billion) for that purpose.

The Pfizer vaccine is projected to be delivered in batches of 1,000 doses and they need to be administered within approximately 10 days when stored in cooler boxes with dry ice. Local governments will discuss whether they should designate a vaccination date and time for residents of each region to avoid overcrowding at venues.

The ministry is also planning to develop a system that will enable it to share information about stocks of vaccine doses at medical institutions with local governments and distributors, so as to help them avoid allocation problems as much as possible.

All farms in Japan have been ordered to disinfect facilities and check hygiene regimes, and ensure that nets to keep out wild birds are installed properly, agriculture ministry officials told Reuters this week.

The government is calling for extra vigilance because of the growing number of infections in Japan and in Europe, which is in the grip of an outbreak. Japan has suspended poultry imports from seven countries, including Germany.

Japan’s worst outbreak since at least 2016 started last month in Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku. Japan had a broiler chicken population of 138 million head last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Another group from a hospital affiliated with Showa University unveiled AI technology that can predict how high a patient’s blood pressure will be in three hours’ time. The predictions are based on past data that has been fed into the AI-system. Blood pressure data is used as one of the indices to gauge the seriousness of a patient’s condition.

The event’s organizer also announced that the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine will create a non-profit organization with other parties. The organization will promote research aimed at finding ways in which AI can be used by healthcare professionals.

The character also means “secrecy”. The organization says this is another reason for choosing the character as a lot of secrets have been uncovered in political and showbusiness circles this year. Chief priest Mori Seihan says he prayed for the repose of the souls of people who died due to the coronavirus outbreak and that the coming year will be a happy one.

Mori says the kanji “mitsu” also has a meaning of “familiarity” and that he wants people to have stronger connections with each other even if they are physically apart.

The lockdown means that venues such as museums and theaters, amusement parks, sports venues and restaurants will be closed throughout this period. ‘Non-essential shops’ such as clothing stores will also be closed. Supermarkets, bakeries, butchers and other shops where food is sold can remain open, as can establishments such as pharmacies and petrol stations. Regarding contact-based professions, only people in medical and paramedical professions such as dentists can continue to carry out their work, which means hairdressers, nail salons etc. will be closed.

Primary and secondary schools, schools for secondary vocation education (MBO) and higher education institutions (universities and HBO) will deliver teaching online in order to reduce in-person contact. They may make exceptions for those sitting exams and interim exams this academic year, as well as for practical training and to support vulnerable pupils and students. Childcare centres will also be closed.

Primary schools and childcare centres will remain open for children whose parents work in critical sectors. In order to allow enough time to make preparations, the measures for schools, educational institutions and childcare centres will apply from Wednesday 16 December. They will be in place until Sunday 17 January.

Then, the advice remains to stay at home as much as possible, including during the festive season. Rutte announced that the new maximum number of guests you may receive at home is set to 2, with an exception on 24, 25 and 26, then you may receive 3 guests.

For a complete overview of the measures, we refer to the website of the government of the Netherlands.

De Jonge explained that the coronavirus reproduction or R number is currently at around 1.24. That means that each Covid-19 patient infects 1.24 other people. If that doesn’t change, the Netherlands will have just as many Covid-19 patients around Christmas as the peak of the first wave in the spring.

Warnings about this from the Outbreak Management Team and public health institute RIVM also pushed the government to implement stricter measures. For the virus to fade away, the R number must be below 1. “We have no other option than to go full on the emergency brake,” De Jonge said.

At the end of October, the highly contagious H5 variant of bird flu was found in two swans near Utrecht. Two days later, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality introduced a housing obligation to prevent the spread of the virus.

This national housing obligation is still in force. As of this week, companies with laying hens and broilers have also been subject to a stricter reporting obligation. Zoos, petting zoos and people who keep birds or chickens as a hobby should better shield their birds and poultry so that they do not come into contact with wild animals that may carry the virus.

This year, companies in Groningen, Utrecht, Gelderland and Friesland were already cleared. So far, this concerns more than half a million animals. Last week, a company in Mijdrecht in Utrecht was cleared because bird flu was diagnosed. This company had three hundred chickens.

“In the next phase of the Covid-19 crisis, it is even more important to stimulate Dutch companies with a sound market and financial position to resume their investment programs again and seek new growth opportunities,” ING CEO Ruud van Dusschoten said.

Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for the Economy, is pleased that this deal will help SMEs, which were especially affected by the pandemic and traditionally have a harder time accessing bank financing.

“Thanks to the EIB Group guarantee backed by the Investment Plan for Europe, ING will unlock significant additional lending for Dutch SMEs. This is a further clear sign of our commitment to help businesses of all sizes to get through this difficult period,” he said.

As a result, the company’s turnover in the financial year from October 2019 to September 2020 amounted to only 8 billion euros, with a loss of more than 3 billion euros. In the previous financial year, TUI generated almost 19 billion euros in turnover and a profit of over 500 million euros.

So far, TUI received 4.8 billion euros in coronavirus support from the German government. The travel restrictions in place due to the second wave of the coronavirus means that TUI expects to operate at only 20% capacity this winter season. It hopes to be back at 80% capacity by the summer.

The coronavirus vaccines will be collected in countries like India, China and the United States, and taken by plane to Schiphol. From there they’ll be flown to Africa, Latin America and Asia. Vaccines for Europe will be distributed by truck from Schiphol.

Cargo buildings 1 and 2 at Schiphol are being equipped for storing vaccines, which must be kept at between -2 and -8 degrees Celsius. Refrigerated containers are ready and waiting in Cargo 1. Each container can hold up to 30 thousand vaccines. And KLM’s freight jumbos can carry 41 containers at a go. Cargo 2 is being converted into a cold store.

“We don’t know exactly when the vaccines will arrive, we do not know how many and not exactly from where and to where,” Marcel Kuijn, responsible for pharmaceutical transport at Air France KLM Cargo, said to Het Parool. “It is getting closer, but those vaccines also have to be approved. As soon as there’s a green light, we have to start immediately.

By transporting vaccines, KLM gives something back to the Netherlands, which bailed the airline out with a 3.4 billion euros support package, Den Heijer said to the newspaper. “This shows the importance of KLM. Nobody wants a pandemic, but now we can show what we are worth. We already did that with masks and other medical equipment. This is more complicated, but the social importance is the same.”

These effects play a role in any case, no matter the outcome of Brexit. In that case, almost 14% of the flower exports could be lost. In addition, a hard Brexit will also result in import duties. So taxes, and the British charge 8% for cut flowers. That makes a big difference, because the margins are small for flowers. Some growers are considering adjusting their production, says Van den Berg. To start growing other colors, and to divert the trade to other countries. But that can put prices under pressure elsewhere.

The corona effect is also not completely over, as the restrictive measures in France and Germany are still holding back sales. Now Brexit is coming on top of that. Royal FloraHolland mainly wants clarity. Van den Berg gives an example. “From 1 April, flowers must have a health certificate before they go on the ferry to England. But it is not known what should be in those documents. ” Van den Berg is concerned about waiting times at the border. “If you already see how long the truck traffic jam is at Calais, this would not affect flowers in any positive way.

The word “Fabeltjesfuik” refers to people on social media who read a lot about conspiracy theories and get trapped in the bubble, getting more and more posts about these types of theories. Most of the 20 words on the shortlist for this year’s word of the year had to do with the coronavirus.