Hokkaido’s second wave was bigger than the first: close those borders

Five million people live on Hokkaido, north of Japan. They went into a lockdown early on Feb 28th. By March 19th Hokkaido looked like a success and was showing the world how to manage Coronavirus (they started early, and used masks). But then they reopened too soon, when there were still a few cases around and within a month had to lockdown again.

The restrictions were released just before a three day holiday weekend and the border with the rest of Japan was not closed, which meant workers and students returned quickly and brought infections in. Three weeks later on April 14th Hokkaido closed down again.

The lag is diabolical. Most of the cases in Hokkaido were reported after the second State of Emergency was declared.

h/t David E.

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As long as the borders are open, the lockdown cannot succeed until the whole country is cleared.

As long as there are cases circulating, a second wave is likely.

States that don’t close borders are not serious.

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