Coronavirus has had its genesis in China but it is Japan that is bearing the brunt of the disease’s outbreak. Over 70 people have been infected with Coronavirus in Japan in the past week alone. This has made it the country with the number highest outside of that in China. The only other nation that has similarly high numbers is Singapore.
Worries are mounting for the Japanese government led by Shinzo Abe with its handling of the problem also coming under the scanner. For one, the Abe government being criticised for its impaired handling of visitors from China. For another, the government’s lack of promptness in quarantining the cruise vessel, Diamond Princess that was docked in Yokohama. While the passengers have since been allowed to leave the vessel, scepticism has aggravated fear that the Japanese administration’s mismanagement could fuel more coronavirus infections.
If these were societal woes, the country also has an influx of economic problems waiting to unfold because of the disease.
The country’s economists have warned that the economic repercussions because of increasing coronavirus cases could bring about recession. Nomura Research Institute’s chief economist Richard Koo, in his report, pointed out, “The Japanese government’s decision to wait for the China-friendly World Health Organisation (WHO) to make its much-delayed declaration of a global health emergency led to the first cases of domestic person-to-person transmission and tarnished the country’s international reputation.” Further adding, he said, “The coronavirus will probably cause a substantial amount of economic damage in Japan.”
