Muhammad Usman
THE Bloomberg crunched a wide array of data to arrive at best places in world where coronavirus has been handled most effectively with least amount of disruption to businesses and society. Japan ranked 2ndhighest on the list. Some called its feat a mystery, however, a little glance around manifests clearly that it was its conviction and confidence which made it happen in testing times. This ought to resonate even more resoundingly when seen in context that Japan is a densely populated country with world’s highest density of elderly people and in close proximity of China where pandemic broke out. In Jan 2020, some 925,000 Chinese people travelled to Japan and another 89,000 made trip in Feb 2020. The population of Japan is 126 Million which is 1.62% of total world population and its number of deaths, caused by coronavirus is just .0017% of global death toll i.e. 2873 deaths out of 195,880 deaths globally. With these statistics, Japan could lay claim of a success story which ran risk of a near disaster when it initiated its fight against the virus by soft means. Contrarily, stringent measures were call of the day worldwide. Main plank of its policy was a greater reliance on its own people and they stood to the test of exceptional times befittingly. Former longest serving Japanese PM, Abe who had to resign midcourse due to his illness, called people to beat the virus by avoiding“3Cs” –closed spaces, crowded spaces and close human contact.
The disciplined living/social habits of people played a key part to keep the virus at bay or restricted; washing hands, gargling with a disinfectant solution, removal of shoes before entering homes, wearing masks as part of everyday life and greeting manners as of a bow instead of a handshake or hug. These did not dawn on them overnight rather, were formed long before the pandemic. Basic hygiene education is taught to Japanese from an early age. Imbued with these habits, it was easy for people as a society to switch over to anti-infection mode. The inherent sense of civic duty also became predominant to protect others as one could be infected without showing any symptom. Shops and businesses set up hand sanitizers at entrances. People waited in long queues hours before shops opened to get masks, rationed by the government to meet the demands evenly. To start with, Japan tested a few people despite having capacity of conducting 6000 diagnostic tests daily. This aroused suspicion and attracted criticism, however, health authorities remained resolute not to indulge in wide spread tests in order to ensure that healthcare resources remain available for serious cases of infection.
This was the line taken despite being criticized for bungling up the response by one of the richest country of the world. Japan was quick to recognize dangers of mass gathering. Museums, theatres, theme parks and other attractions were closed for months but kept shops and businesses open. Sport events were also suspended much before when others did. Foreign visitors were curtailed. Japan was also quick to close all schools and reopen after taking holistic set of measures to insure protective environments for students as far as it was possible. Japan did not go for full lockdown as a policy to mitigate the pandemic and kept economy open. It resorted to partial lockdowns only under the state of emergency. These were far different from those clamped in Wuhan and Europe. Japan’s version of lockdown revolves around – avoid unnecessary outings, work from home and observe social distancing. In brief, though government of Japan did good work but most plaudits went to people for displaying discipline, quiet determination and an acute sense of care for other fellows in combating the virus.
There are also a few other countries which, more or less, tried similar approach as of Japan but failed to achieve desired results. Notable country out of them was Sweden whose strategy was anti-lockdown. It also mainly relied upon citizen’s responsibility to observe hygiene and distance as recommended by health experts, however, relatively suffered grievously with nearly 370,000 cases of infection and 7900 deaths – a lot more than other Scandinavian countries in neighbourhood. These numbers are quite big when seen in comparison with its total population of 10.1 million only. More recently, its King has also expressed his dismay while saying that his country failed to save lives with its relatively relaxed approach to pandemic. Main difference between two countries was response of the people. People of Japan were better equipped with traits which could challenge the virus, developed over a period of time nevertheless, humans are most adaptable species provided they are rightly convinced of its need. Here comes the role of leadership because leader does not take the people where they want to go, he takes the people where they are ought to be. A Director at WHO, Dr Tedros said that while this is first pandemic, caused by coronavirus and it is also the first pandemic that can be controlled. Undoubtedly, margin between success and failure is people. They are the linchpin. How they respond to protect themselves, protect others and prastice basic hygiene. This fact is amply clear from above examples. The coronavirus is again on rampage worldwide after a short interval. Still this remains bigly unclear that how many rounds it will have. How long and how many times, it would change its chemistry. Foregoing in view, main defence lies with people themselves particularly, for people who need living and livelihood both in tandem with each other.
— The writer, a retired Lt Col, is a senior columnist based in Islamabad.
