@JamesMelville JPN approach is focused on clusters. First, we tell everybody they should go home if they have a fever or cough. Don't come to hospitals. Avoid packed and closed space with poor ventilation, exactly like the cruise ship.
@JamesMelville High risk facilities like caring home for the elderly are on high alert. Four consecutive days of cold symptoms justify medical assistance. PCR testing is provided for public health purposes, not for the patient. If COVID of multiple patients, a cluster, is discovered,
@JamesMelville then the government goes aggressive. Trace all possible contacts and put them under remote observation for two weeks. Educate the mass about how this infection cluster occurred. Contact tracing is done by non medical personnel. This way JPN protects scarce medical resources.
@JamesMelville We have been doing this for a month now. The reasoning behind this is as follows. COVID is just another viral pneumonia if it does not explode. 50k people, mostly elderly, die because of pneumonia each year in JPN. Adding a few does not make a difference.
@JamesMelville The crucial point of COVID is it explodes. Once it explodes, the medical system will eventually collapse, leading to massive deaths, not only due to COVID, but also due to the denial of necessary medical service to those in need.
@JamesMelville That means infection explosion has to be extinguished as early as possible. However, 80% of COVID is benign, and do not require medical assistance. Therefore, we ignore asymptomatic patients totally.
@JamesMelville If someone is infected by them, but they do not develop symptoms, then it is not important. We have to focus on patients with symptoms and the cluster. This is how JPN is handling the COVID outbreak.
