What's Going on in Japan With the Coronavirus

In this article I'll talk about what's going on in Japan during this coronavirus outbreak.

Where it Began

As you probably already know, this outbreak of the coronavirus came from the city of Wuhan in China. The outbreak occurred sometime in December. I heard that the hospitals in Wuhan are so full that they are rejecting people. The Chinese government is also claiming that some people who may have the virus, do not. So therefore, I feel like the numbers that China is telling the world may be false. The number could be far higher than we know.

While I am writing this article, there have been about 2,000 deaths in China, and about 8,000 have been infected. Of course, like I said, these numbers could be false. In Wuhan the people are under quarantine, and they are told not to leave their homes because the virus spreads so easily. They are tearing down contaminated buildings to help contain the virus.

I heard that some Chinese people are purposely spreading the virus. So, I don't know what they will do about that. And Chinese people are still allowed to travel which I think is wrong.

How Did This Outbreak Occur?

I have heard two theories as to how the coronavirus outbreak begun. The first theory is that it was because of Chinese people, particularly in Wuhan, who have been eating strange animals. The animal they are saying the virus came from was a bat. I have heard that they have been eating bat soup.

Not only have they been eating bat soup, but there is also a market in Wuhan where you can buy "exotic" animals to eat. The animals I saw from a video included snakes, raccoon dogs, bats, and dogs to name a few. The animals were alive, and they were for consumption.

I have heard that the virus originates from snakes. Bats eat snakes. It is okay for bats to have this virus; it doesn't hurt them. However, once a human consumes the bat, our system cannot handle the virus. And that's how this strain of the coronavirus was started.

Another theory I have heard was about a lab that was built in Wuhan a few years ago. This lab was built to study extremely deadly viruses. Some people believe that there was an accident that let the virus out into the population. And others believe that it was a purposeful unleashed onto the population in order to study.

In Japan

That brings us back to Japan. Most people that I have heard about who have the virus, were Japanese citizens who were evacuated from Wuhan. So far there are about 500 cases in Japan. 400 cases have come from the cruise ship that's in Yokohama. The Princess Diamond cruise ship. There has been one case in Wakayama where they don't know how the patient contracted the virus. He had not been to Wuhan and had not come in contact with anyone who had.


Just like in China and the US, the sale of face masks has skyrocketed. I used to be able to go into any convenience store and pick up a packet of face masks. Not anymore. One day they were stocked, the next day the shelf was empty. I bought some 3M special coronavirus masks from Amazon about two weeks ago. I bought only two, and it came up to about 30 dollars! For TWO masks. The ten pack of 3M masks is now 100 dollars. So at least you can actually get the mask here, unlike in the United States. However, I have yet to receive my masks, and it’s going on three weeks.

Tourism in Japan is suffering quite a bit. I read an article that Japan might go into a recession. Japan has the second most cases of the virus. The first is of course China. I would be scared to travel to Japan as well. The CDC has issued a warning to people traveling to Japan and to China. As for the Tokyo Olympics, we'll see how it that goes. But I have a feeling that if things don't get better, we'll start to be quarantined as well.

In conclusion, the only thing we can do is try to wait it out. I wouldn't suggest anyone to travel because we don't know who may be infected. It's best to stay where you are and wait it out. The virus is already in twenty countries, so you can catch it in quite a few places. Try to keep your immune system up and keep washing your hands. Good luck on beating this scary virus.