Japan reaches 80,000 centenarians but Covid-19 deaths are low unlike in Europe
Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
In parts of Europe, many elderly people died in care homes, nursing homes, and throughout society from the coronavirus (Covid-19). This notably applies to Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. However, Japan, despite having a substantial elderly population appears to have largely escaped.
Yet, the overall population of Japan is much higher than the individual European nations named above. Equally important, the elderly population – notably in the countryside – is substantial.
Indeed, for the first time in Japan’s history, you now have over 80,000 centenarians. Hence, if any nation was going to suffer from high deaths from the coronavirus, it appears that Japan stood out.
Yet, astonishingly, the current death toll is only 1,442 despite the population being over 126 million. Equally, unlike horrendous stories where the elderly were abandoned in some care homes, this isn’t happening in Japan.
The overwhelming majority of centenarians in Japan are female. They account for just over 88 percent. Therefore, issues related to dietary, the response of care and nursing homes in Europe, the behavior of workers in this sector, obesity rates, and other important factors, must be studied.
After all, the discrepancies between Japan and European nations including Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom are enormous. Thus research is needed to understand why Japan escaped the worst, unlike many European nations that appear to have failed the elderly in countless ways.
Ironically, some European nations have lambasted Japan in the past for taking in few refugees and international migrants. However, the coronavirus crisis is highlighting the mistreatment and abandonment of the elderly in Europe – notably in wealthier European nations.
Therefore, the taxpayers of yesterday were abandoned during their hour of need. So much for human-rights in modern Europe because ageism is rife and internal inquiries are needed.
https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/ – Tokyo Metropolitan Government website for updates about the coronavirus crisis in Tokyo.
https://toyokeizai.net/sp/visual/tko/covid19/en.html – Japan and Tokyo Covid-19 news with more analysis
https://covid19japan.com/ – Japan regional coronavirus statistics
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ World coronavirus statistics
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