I went to Osaka last weekend and found out the street was full of people wearing masks. In drug stores, masks were usually all sold out. Due to the coronavirus that had spread widely recently, people rose the awareness of protecting themselves from being infected, as well as being responsible for other people’s wellness. As a Chinese myself, I learned that if only Chinese citizens had the same level of health awareness, the virus wouldn’t have spread this quickly and widely. Everything would be controllable. Some infected people even tried to hide their symptoms and escape from the quarantine, which made the situation worse. It might be the cultural difference that Japanese people were typically more concerned about others. They tried not to cause trouble for others.
In Yui, there were sanitizers everywhere and we were told to report any symptoms that might be coronavirus. I also stored lots of masks and avoided going to crowded areas recently. Hopefully, the number of infected people would stop rising shortly. In the meanwhile, I hope more countries will raise health awareness like Japan during this critical period.
I saw on the news that there was a Japanese cruise ship with the coronavirus found on board. All passengers were retained from getting off the boat for quarantine. There were approximately 3,700 people kept aboard for the coronavirus quarantine, which would last until late April. I found the decision of keeping all passengers on board to be very responsible and effective in fighting against the virus. Most of the infected passengers were Japanese. However, some were from Canada, Australia, and other countries. If no immediate action was taken and these infected passengers were allowed to go back to their countries, it’s hard to imagine how many more infections would occur not only in Japan but all across the world.
I realized how Japanese culture valued integrity, honesty, and responsibility. On my way to school, I paid special attention to a whiteboard hanging outside of the police station, which showed how many accidents and casualties there were in Osaka yesterday. It’s impressive that the Japanese government was comfortable with making information regarding people’s lives transparent and open to the public.