True COVID case rate in Japan?
October 20, 2022 10:07 AM Subscribe
I follow Bob Wachter’s advice about dining indoors: it’s fine when the local COVID case rate in a California locale is five or fewer cases per 100,000. This is because US cases are under-reported due to the prevalence of home testing. The true case rate would be equivalent to 25 cases per 100,000, according to Wachter. Question: is underreporting also the case in Japan?
I plan to be in Japan in about three weeks and would like to know whether Japanese Covid stats are more accurate than the US, so I can decide whether indoor dining is acceptable.
I plan to be in Japan in about three weeks and would like to know whether Japanese Covid stats are more accurate than the US, so I can decide whether indoor dining is acceptable.
makes it clear that even if you figure out the equivalent true case rate, it's probably still much safer in Japan vs. USA.
I'm not so sure about "much safer." According to Johns Hopkins' "Our World in Data," the reported daily new case rate in Japan is 273 per million people, vs. 104 per million people in the US.
posted by Umami Dearest at 3:51 AM on October 21, 2022
I'm not so sure about "much safer." According to Johns Hopkins' "Our World in Data," the reported daily new case rate in Japan is 273 per million people, vs. 104 per million people in the US.
posted by Umami Dearest at 3:51 AM on October 21, 2022
From a personal point of view, I think I'm fairly health conscious, and I dine indoors in Tokyo restaurants maybe two or three times a week.
Floor staff wear masks in maybe 90-95% of restaurants, and a lot of restaurants have a temperature check at the door before you can enter. I mostly avoid crowded restaurants with tight seating in favor of places with ample separation between tables, good airflow and masked staff, and I like going out early in the week rather than Friday nights, which are the most crowded.
posted by Umami Dearest at 8:47 AM on October 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Floor staff wear masks in maybe 90-95% of restaurants, and a lot of restaurants have a temperature check at the door before you can enter. I mostly avoid crowded restaurants with tight seating in favor of places with ample separation between tables, good airflow and masked staff, and I like going out early in the week rather than Friday nights, which are the most crowded.
posted by Umami Dearest at 8:47 AM on October 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Umami Dearest, are at home Covid tests a thing in Japan, or does most testing occur in a way that’s entered into the official statistics, such as at test centers?
posted by Atrahasis at 11:17 AM on October 21, 2022
posted by Atrahasis at 11:17 AM on October 21, 2022
Apparently home tests are quite common and readily available, and test-takers are encouraged to report their results to the government. Free home tests may be available from the government, but it depends on what neighborhood you live in.
I also run across test centers in random locations (like subway stations) when I'm out on the town. Sorry I have no idea how to figure out how much underreporting there is; I look at the figures as a way of seeing trends more than anything else.
posted by Umami Dearest at 10:02 PM on October 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
I also run across test centers in random locations (like subway stations) when I'm out on the town. Sorry I have no idea how to figure out how much underreporting there is; I look at the figures as a way of seeing trends more than anything else.
posted by Umami Dearest at 10:02 PM on October 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by soylent00FF00 at 3:41 PM on October 20, 2022 [1 favorite]