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02:10
Over the past two weeks, the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship Diamond Princesshas been thrown into the international limelight. Despite the 14-day quarantine period imposed by the Japanese government,infected cases on the ship had continued to grow since early February. This has raised doubt about the effectiveness of the measures taken on the ship.
Most notably, criticismshavewitnessed a marked increase since Professor Kentaro Iwata, aJapanese infectious diseases specialist, published a video after visiting the ship andpainted a rather bleak picture of the infection control measures taken on the ship, describing them as "completely chaotic"and hinting that the insufficient quarantine measures on theship had made it a fertile breeding ground for the spread of the virus.
In an interview with CGTN's Dialogue program, Yōichi Masuzoe, former Japanese minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, who shares a close personal relationship with Iwata, agreed with the professor's assessment.
"The problem is, it is such a big ship; it's almost impossible to clearly define the zone,"said Masuzoe, echoing Iwata's observation that uninfected and infected passengers on board were not fully separated. Another issue he brought up in the interview was the inadequate protective measures taken by the crew members who had been serving the passengers throughout the quarantine, which many believe increased the chance of infection.
"There are many problems that (the) Japanese government should have improved, but unfortunately it's too late,"he concluded.
Another concern emerged as passengers tested negative for the COVID-19 started to disembark from the ship is that some of them may in realitybe carrying the virus albeit the negative test results. The fact that they are allowed by the government to take public transport and go about their own businesses after disembarking means they could potentially spread the virus further to the communities.
However, Masuzoe didn't think that posed as the biggest challenge for Japan. The fact that the cases of the COVID-19 have already emerged across the country with more than 80 people infected within Japan is something more alarming to him. He added thatsome people may havealreadybeen infected without the authorities knowing.
Therefore, despite all the challenges and complexity surrounding the disease, Masuzoe believed that the Japanese government should have responded to the outbreak better, a sentiment that has been widely felt among the Japanese public.
Now, with the current situation, some believe that a crisis might be looming for Japan which is gearing up to host the much-anticipated 2020 Olympics in months'time.
So what measures should be taken next?
Masuzoe said Japan could take a leaf from China's book – one measure he proposed is to distinguish patients with mild symptoms from more severe ones and treat them in different ways. More specifically, he believes patients with more severe symptoms should be treated at hospitals while those with mild symptoms should self-quarantine at home, a policy that was once taken in China's Wuhan City, the epicenter of the outbreak in the country. In this way, he believes that the government can make sure that medical facilities do not get overwhelmed.
In contrast to the criticisms that the Japanese government has received domestically, in China, where the COVID-19 originated, over the course of the past month, the medical support given by the Japanese government has made quite a wave on China's social media, with many netizens expressing appreciation for the Japanese government's support. In the wake of the increasing infection cases in Japan, China has now started to donate testing kits and medical supplies to Japan.
Therefore, during the TV discussion, Masuzoe highlighted the importance of international cooperation in fighting this epidemic. "Both countries and the other countries internationally should cooperate to win this war,"he said.
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