It never crossed our minds that a pandemic was about to begin when the health authority of Wuhan, China, confirmed pneumonia of unknown cause on Dec. 31, 2019. Ukraine celebrated New Year’s, as grand as the years before, with tens of thousands of people gathered in Saint Sophia’s Square. Half a world away, people in Japan also anticipated that 2020 would bring prosperity and success, marking the start of a new decade. Every country is struggling with the coronavirus pandemic in their own ways, causing them to respond differently. It is still too early to assess which preventive measures held the most success.
Today, both countries have not experienced the same drastic rise in coronavirus cases nor the steep death toll evident in many other European countries. As of July 10, the number of confirmed cases in Japan is 20,719 and 52,043 in Ukraine. However, Japan has only conducted 540,411 polymerase chain reaction analysis, commonly known as the PCR tests (testing less than 1% of the population), compared to 796,680 in Ukraine (testing perhaps 2% of the population).
Although many experts claim that Japan should conduct more PCR tests, they implied that the country has been managing the coronavirus well, considering the low death toll. Because China is one of Japan’s neighbors, 10 million Chinese tourists pay a visit to the island nation each year. The border remained open even while China was the epicenter for the virus in February. To those aware of the lenient policies in Japan, it might seem astounding that the cases remain so low. Even with a population of 126.5 million people, Japan has been more successful in managing the virus than Ukraine so far.
The first case of coronavirus in Japan was confirmed on Jan. 16, 2020. By Feb. 23, the total number of confirmed cases has exceeded 1,000. Though the virus continued to spread across the country, the government was limited in its ability to control the contagion owing to the postwar constitution that ensures strict protections for civil liberties. The state could not do more than to ask citizens to adhere to recommendations by health authorities.
Although Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was unable to enforce lockdowns directly, he has asked that the schools remain closed from March 2 onwards. By the middle of March, European nations had already imposed stricter lockdown measures, while most people in Japan continued to go to work as usual in packed morning trains.
The prime minister declared a state of emergency for seven (out of 47) prefectures on April 7. It was extended nationwide on April 16 when there were more than 9,000 cases confirmed in the country. Many media sources suspected that Japan delayed declaring a state of emergency due to its potential hosting the Tokyo Olympics, which has now been postponed. The budget to prepare for the event was $12.6 billion, and postponement would likely add another $2.7 billion to the expense.
Even with a nationwide state of emergency declared, many of the small to medium-sized corporations, which account for 90 percent of companies in Japan, did not adapt to remote work. Though governors requested that citizens refrain from traveling across prefectures, bullet trains (shinkansen), domestic flights, and other forms of transportations continued to operate. No fine was to be paid for violating the request. The governors asked citizens to stay at home on weekends and restaurants, cafes, bars, and nightclubs to close. And, indeed, few remained open during the period.
In contrast, the first case of coronavirus in Ukraine was found on March 3, 2020. Two weeks later, strict quarantine measures were in place, even while there were only a handful of coronavirus cases confirmed in the country. The Cabinet of Ministers announced that gatherings of more than 10 people were banned and closed metro and other public transportation. The restaurants and cafes were to be closed, as well as the schools. In the most severe phase of quarantine, being with more than two individuals on the streets was prohibited, people had to have an ID with them at all times, and wearing a facemask was mandatory. Breaking these quarantine measures was punishable by a fine.
Many companies in Ukraine had to switch to remote work, given that public transportation was closed down, limiting means to get to the office. Meanwhile, many firms in Japan made a choice to continue working business as usual. The crowded trains of rush hour remain a threat to the health of society in Japan.
Despite not demanding a rigorous quarantine on the people, the Japanese government has given monetary aid to residents to ease the economic blow from the coronavirus. Every resident received $930. The government has also granted subsidies for employment adjustment to many corporations. And yet, Ukrainians received little to no material support from the government.
Only a few people in Ukraine continue to wear a mask as the summer temperatures go up. Oppositely, masks are now omnipresent in Japan, given the inherent mask-wearing culture and advisories from public health authorities.
The effectiveness of the measures placed by each government cannot be ascertained until the pandemic simmers down. The global community should learn from the examples of other countries to determine which methods are most practical. The number of daily confirmed cases gradually increases in Ukraine and Japan. Many people in both countries plan to travel abroad in summer, a factor that increases their risk of exposure to the virus. Only time will reveal the answer to the questions we’ve already carried for months, and many more to come.
