Two months ago, it was all coming up roses for Hirofumi Yoshimura. The Osaka governor was praised nationwide for responding to the coronavirus with a set of easy-to-understand local numerical standards for whether to request that prefectural facilities and businesses close or reduce operating hours.
For a while, the “Osaka model,” as he dubbed it, kept infection rates low. But as was the case elsewhere, infections began rising in July. By the beginning of this month, daily cases in Osaka climbed to over 200 a day, record highs. Suddenly, Yoshimura looked less like King Midas, whose touch turned everything to gold, and more like just another politician made of fool’s gold.
It is possible the infection spike is temporary and will soon recede. But its rise now creates problems Yoshimura didn’t have in June, problems that will have to be dealt with this autumn regardless of the infection rate trajectory.