You're reading: The Economist: The Japanese authorities understood Covid-19 better than most

The Economist: The Japanese authorities understood Covid-19 better than most

By The Economist.

Published Jan. 10, 2021 at 6:32 am

A worker prepares to close a restaurant in the Shibuya district of Tokyo on Jan. 8, 2021, shortly after the 8pm closure for eateries during the first day under a state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic.

Photo by AFP

When the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship suffering from an outbreak of covid-19, arrived in Japan in February, it seemed like a stroke of bad luck. A small floating petri dish threatened to turn the Japanese archipelago into a big one.