This video is trending all over Japan Twitter. This is my translation.
⚠️CW: Ableism re: homelessness, mental illness, and substance abuse.
I have decided not to take it out because that would be limiting information. I agree with her take to STAY HOME.
⚠️CW: Ableism re: homelessness, mental illness, and substance abuse.
I have decided not to take it out because that would be limiting information. I agree with her take to STAY HOME.
"Hello. I am just a single mother who lives in Harlem, NY. In Japan, there is a ton of news about how bad the situation is in NY due to COVID19. It’s really bad. It’s very serious. Every day, more people die. It’s so horrible people are getting depressed."
"Almost nobody is walking outside; only people who are homeless, drug addicts, or people with severe mental problems. Basically, only people who are mentally ill. The city is getting more and more dangerous. Our lifestyle has done a 180 and we’re still reeling from the changes."
"Why am I making this video? Because I was watching the Japanese news and was shocked. People are going outside to see the cherry blossoms, old men go out drinking at night, they go on trips, ..."
"and when old ladies are interviewed on the streets they claim staying indoors makes their hips hurt so they need to be active… To me, this is insane! At this rate, it’ll be the same as in NY! And by then, it’ll be too late… which is why I’m making this video."
"When we look at what’s happening in Japan, it feels like NY 2-3 weeks ago. Three weeks ago. There is no sense of emergency. “Oh, Corona is here, this is bad,” and in the same breath, “but I’ll be okay, let’s just be careful.” That’s as far as it goes."
"Before you know it, it’ll be a thousand people, ten thousand people. The numbers will shoot up. Your family, your friends, they will start getting sick but won’t have access to testing because hospitals will be overcrowded."
"Right now, Japan is at a point where that still may or may not happen. You need to take this seriously. Three weeks ago, here in NY, it was the same “oh, it’s getting bad, huh?” but at that time the racial attacks on Asian people spiked and my friends were yelled at “Corona!” "
"And if we wore masks in the trains, we were shouted “Filth!” and punched. If we didn’t wear masks, we were told “Why aren’t you wearing masks, you’re Asian!” and then punched or stabbed. So at that time, we were more worried about the racial attacks than the virus itself."
"I didn’t wear masks because I didn’t want to be attacked; I have a child! So, at that time I didn’t wear one while I was outside. This changed two weeks ago—in one week, the situation changed completely."
"Americans who never wear masks suddenly had them and wore latex gloves like the ones you find in hospitals. Any kind of gloves. That was unbelievable. Americans don’t have the customs of wearing masks, it’s not like in Japan, so you could tell that the situation was changing. "
"They started to talk about social distancing, the 2m between people. Trump and the Mayor of NY had press conferences about the seriousness of the situation, and the number of dead people kept rising so finally people started panicking and feeling the need to protect themselves."
"The leap between a hundred people and a thousand is nothing. By the time this video is up, there’ll probably be a thousand—though I think the number right now is closer to 2,000. You will get to 10K before you know it. And by that time, the hospitals will be at full capacity."
"You know why? Because there are not enough beds. Definitely not enough beds. There isn’t a single country with enough beds. No beds, no respirators, and more and more sick people. Docs and nurses are overworked, their immune systems weaken, they get sick. They can’t work."
"They are isolated. They get sicker. This is an endless cycle. And right now, in Midtown NY we have famous locations like Times Square and, near it, there are military camps. Those are not medical camps. Those are for bodies. A safe place to store bodies, there are so many."
"There are not enough refrigerated trucks. And I’m sure you’ve since this in Japan as well, but you cannot see the body until they are cremated. That’s because we still don’t know if those bodies are still infectious. These horrible things are happening right now in NY, ..."
"and I know this will be happening in Japan in a few weeks. That’s why I need to speak out and warn you of my experience and what I’m going through. Americans are very individualistic, self-centered, and sometimes selfish—and even they are following the rules and staying home."
Reminder: This is a translation. This does not represent in any way my (Sachiko's) views about Americans and New Yorkers.
"It’s unbelievable. And I’m pretty sure that there are a lot of Japanese people who are good and are staying at home, but at the same time, there are many who are still going outside and having fun. "
"For all that talk about Japanese people being responsible, there are too many who are irresponsible and blaming others. Blaming the government, the lack of instructions from their governors… Always pointing fingers. Well, why don’t you think for yourself?"
"You don’t have to go drinking to have a meeting. You don’t need to meet your friends: make a phone call. This is really shocking to me. Do you know why Americans are staying home now? We know now that 80% will be okay, 20% will have symptoms, and of that 5% will be very sick."
"If you’re in that 20%, you cannot go to the hospital, nobody will help you, and if you’re in the 5% you might die because there are not enough beds or respirators. There are no doctors or nurses. So they’re all staying at home."
"And since we might be infected or spread it to others, we’re told to stay isolated so we cannot work, we don’t get money—nobody is happy here in NY. But if we ignored that, everything would be worse. We might be carriers without knowing it and this situation would never end."
"So we’re doing it now, staying home, before it’s too late to stop this now that we can. This is what I think Japan should be doing now. And I know Japan is usually safer so it probably won’t get as bad, but NY right now is very dangerous, it feels like Bio Hazard in real life."
"The streets are full of homeless, drug addicts, and unstable people who will shout “it’s finally our time to shine, yay!” Even the people who seem mellow will suddenly explode and yell aggressively and attack others. They will jump at you screaming. It’s absolutely terrifying."
"A homeless person even started a fire in my station—it’s out of control. And people are now more vulnerable than ever and we don’t want to be touched by someone who might be sick. It’s downright horrifying. That’s also why a lot of New Yokers are staying indoors."
"Hopefully, this won’t happen in Japan but what I want to say is that now is the time to stop this. Now it’s not too late. If we wait any longer, hospitals will be overflown and by that time it’ll be too late. I’m dead serious."
"Everyone is in the same boat. The whole planet is. But there will come a time when that won’t even be on your mind—like NY, like Italy. So, for now, stay in. Don’t leave the house. This is what everyone should be doing."
"Everyone is in the same boat. The whole planet is. But there will come a time when that won’t even be on your mind—like NY, like Italy. So, for now, stay up. Don’t leave the house. This is what everyone should be doing."
/end
/end
