Tag - covid-19

 
 

COVID 19

Japan's first COVID-19 case was confirmed on Jan. 15, 2020, and there have been reports of cases of prolonged COVID-19 aftereffects having impact on social life.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2025
Caution still needed five years after Japan's first COVID-19 case
Waves of infections have continued even after Japan lowered the classification of COVID-19 under the infectious disease law in May 2023.
Toyota is one of many large employers in the U.S. ordering workers to their desks in recent months, ending policies implemented during the COVID pandemic.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 14, 2025
Toyota wants salaried staff back in office four days a week
Toyota denied the move is designed to reduce headcount but warned failure to comply could lead to "termination of employment.”
Five years since COVID-19 started upending the world, the virus is still infecting and killing people across the globe — though at far lower levels than during the height of the pandemic.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 8, 2025
Is the world ready for the next pandemic?
While the U.N. health agency considers the world more prepared than it was when Covid hit, it warns we are still not nearly ready enough.
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in October.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 29, 2024
Meiji Seika Pharma files suit against lawmaker over 'unfounded' vaccine claims
CDP Lower House lawmaker Kazuhiro Haraguchi has said that the drugmaker's replicon vaccine is "akin to a biological weapon."
A member of the medical staff treats a woman with COVID-19 next to her four-day-old baby at a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, in November 2021.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 27, 2024
COVID pregnancies may have boosted autism risk, study shows
"There’s something really going on,” pediatric infectious diseases physician Karin Nielsen says. "We don’t want to alarm the world, but that’s what our data are showing.”
Furaha Elisabeth applies medication on the skin of her child Sagesse Hakizimana, who is under treatment for Mpox, an infectious disease caused by the Mpox virus that causes a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever, at a health center in the Congo on Aug 19.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 24, 2024
Global disease resurgence in 2024 shows rising health threat
The findings seek to renew the focus on the rise of preventable and climate-sensitive diseases, as well as a coordinated global response.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump attends Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 24, 2024
Trump transition team plans immediate WHO withdrawal, expert says
The plan would mark a dramatic shift in U.S. global health policy and further isolate Washington from international efforts to battle pandemics.
Some of the same mistakes made during COVID-19 can be seen in the U.S. government's response to H5N1, which started in poultry before a new variant began infecting the nation’s dairy cows.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2024
Another pandemic is inevitable, and the U.S. isn't ready
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s picks to lead the nation’s top public health agencies also don’t inspire confidence.
Employees at large Tokyo companies who travel to the office daily to work fell to 47.4% in 2024 from 53.1% in the previous year, a survey shows.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 8, 2024
Hybrid work on the rise for Tokyo’s office employees: NRI Survey
For the July 2024 Nomura Research Institute survey, the firm polled 3,091 people from ages 20-69 who work for large companies in Tokyo.
Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s “The Making of a Japanese” is an even-handed portrait of elementary school in Japan, where the citizens of tomorrow are forged.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2024
‘The Making of a Japanese’: A warm and engaging portrait of Japanese schoolchildren
Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s documentary is a candid and heartfelt glimpse of elementary school in Tokyo.
This threat of H5N1 avian flu has been exacerbated by inadequate testing, delayed genetic data and insufficient containment measures, with powerful agricultural interests influencing the response.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2024
A bird flu pandemic would be one of the most foreseeable catastrophes in history
The threat of H5N1 avian flu has been exacerbated by inadequate testing, delayed genetic data, and insufficient containment measures.
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2024
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Travelers spent ¥5.86 trillion in Japan through September of this year, preliminary figures show, eclipsing the ¥5.3 trillion they spent in all of 2023.
A view inside Beijing Daxing International Airport. Japanese nationals could soon visit China without a visa for up to 15 days, according to reports.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 19, 2024
China may soon resume visa exemptions for Japanese nationals, reports say
The news comes as the two countries work toward mending fences after a period of tension and in the face of rising protectionist threats.
Shannon Turner, who is often in and out of the hospital due to waterfall effects related to the interplay between long COVID, psoriatic arthritis, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome and autoimmune diseases, sits up on a hospital bed in Philadelphia, in May 2023.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 15, 2024
Many long COVID patients adjust to slim recovery odds as world moves on
Recent scientific studies suggest the longer someone is sick, the lower their chances of making a full recovery.
Senior IMF official Vitor Gaspar speaks during an interview in Washington last Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024
IMF official warns Japan of debt deterioration in event of future shock
The IMF predicts that Japan's debt will exceed 250% of its gross domestic product this year before gradually decreasing.
A man who works for a restaurant consults a social welfare council official in Tokyo about COVID-19 relief loans in June 2020.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2024
Welfare councils loaned ¥1.4 billion in COVID relief to ineligible borrowers
Individuals who were receiving welfare support were ineligible for the loans because they are already guaranteed a minimum standard of living.
The emotional impact of constant news about wars and disasters is weighing heavily on many in the younger generations, causing them to seek ways to cope with their distress and anxiety.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2024
Is the apocalypse making you too anxious to work?
A poll reveals that a significant portion of the Gen Z and millennial generations feel unable to function at work due to distress over current events.
Adapting to new information when faced with public health crises like COVID-19 is crucial, as oversimplified public health messaging can erode trust in science. 
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 10, 2024
The best answer science may have right now is ‘I don't know’
Acknowledging uncertainty and adapting to new information is crucial, as oversimplified public health messaging can erode trust in science.
Then-President Donald Trump (right) meets with President Vladimir Putin of Russia at the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. Trump and Putin have secretly spoken several times since Trump left office, according to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 9, 2024
Trump sent COVID-19 tests to Putin, Bob Woodward says in his new book
Donald Trump also retains a personal relationship with Vladimir Putin, Woodward writes.
A man receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Tokyo on Oct. 1. Experts say fears over the newly approved replicon vaccine are unwarranted.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2024
Experts move to allay replicon COVID shot fears in Japan amid backlash
The health ministry and experts say concerns around "shedding" are unwarranted.

Longform

The sun shines from behind a waving Philippine flag at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
Eighty years after the Battle of Manila, old foes forge new ties