“Instead, the government tried to apply the lessons of the Diamond Princess. After trained quarantine officers and nurses were infected aboard the ship, despite following protocols for viruses that spread through droplets, Mr Oshitani’s team concluded that the virus spread through the air.
“As early as March, Japanese officials began warning citizens to avoid the san-mitsu or ‘3cs’: closed spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings. The phrase was blasted across traditional and social media.
“Surveys conducted in the spring found that a big majority were avoiding 3c settings. The publishing house Jiyukokuminsha recently declared it “buzzword of the year” for 2020.
“The Diamond Princess also inspired an early focus on clusters. The government set up a cluster-busting taskforce in March.
“These insights allowed the authorities to make granular distinctions about risks, opting for targeted restrictions rather than swinging between the extremes of strict lockdowns and free-for-all openings.
“In addition to the 3cs, the Japanese government warns of five more specific dangers: dinner parties with booze; drinking and eating in groups of more than four; talking without masks at close quarters; living in dormitories and other small shared spaces; and using changing or break rooms.
“Of course, these insights would have been for naught if ordinary people had ignored them. But Japanese heeded the government’s advice to stay home and to quarantine if showing any symptoms of the coronavirus, even though these admonitions carried no legal force.”
Excerpts from “The Economist”
