robnplunder

That is shocking given the recent surge in Coronavirus infections in Japan.

True although there are nations that have done a good job even without a strict lockdown. So, COVID 19 can be beat. But Japan isn't one of them. After the nation declared emergency and seemingly put the COVID 19 situation under control, I knew things would get worse without changing their strategy. Just relying on people to combat the COVID 19 on their own hasn't worked for any nation. Only the nations with proactive and aggressive strategy (not necessarily lockdown) have done well. The timing of Japan's COVID 19 resurgence isn't good for the upcoming basho. It wiil now surely start without the crowd. Whether it can successfully finish or not is the big question. Today, Japan reported 274 newly infected, yet another increase. 1/2 of those are people in Tokyo. Others are infected after they visited Tokyo or from people who came from the city. I.e, Tokyo's community spread is likely worse than the city's testing strategy shows.

The key number to track is the hospitalization rate. That is a more accurate indication, IMO, of what is really going on. It also removes the lame excuse of "we are doing more testing" BS. The lockdown should happen before the hospitals run out of capacity. Many places in the US will soon face what New York and New Jersey went through. Shame, really. The same story is repeating itself since Wuhan, Spain, Italy, Iran, UK, Brazil, Ecuador, India, ... There are countries that have done a very good job of staving off the virus. So, no excuse for the political leaders hiding behind testing stat, economy, CCP, blah, blah, blah.

Japan, Tokyo in particular, is no different in this world trend. The country reported about 250 new cases today, the most since the previous wave. It is NOT a big number compared to other countries but the trend is alarming because Japan's graph in the last 10 days is looking like it is on an exponential growth path. So the obvious question to this thread is, is the next basho safe from the virus? I don't believe Tokyo is safe but the basho will probably go on regardless.

No news is good news given that there is a spike in COVID 19 cases in Tokyo (107 new cases reported yesterday). I have the picture of a homeless gaijjin in my mind.

Yikes! Over 100 tested positive for the virus today in Tokyo.

It has become apparent that COVID 19 is here to stay until the vaccine comes out. We all have to live with the fact. Given that, I think the July basho will and should happen albeit without the crowd. Here's hoping it will happen (and end successfully) despite the recent increase in the numbers for Tokyo and Japan.

You'd be amazed how often one touches his face/mouth with hands. Wearing a mask will help stop touching your face/mouth area with your hands. On average, a person touches their face/mouth about 15 - 25 times an hour. Before I wore my 1st mask for the virus, I've decided to count and see how I did. I stopped counting after just 10 minutes b/c it was apparent I am more on "25" side than "15." Complement wearing mask with frequent hand washing and we will all be safe.

Beijing is seeing a resurgence of COVID 19. Markets are shut down. Many people are being tested. There are panic buying. The virus just won't go away.

You should wear it not to spread to others in case you have the virus.

Really? The vast majority think otherwise. Mask wearing culture/countries has done better with Corona. It is not foolproof but will help.

Holy @#$%@#$%. Tokyo just reported 47 new infections. This is not a good turn of events. Perhaps, the next basho should be moved to another venue, outside of Tokyo to be safe.

I doubt it. Wearing masks and sitting 2m apart will help but I don't know that will stop the spread. The virus can be aerosol, it can sip through masks (especially a cloth one). And unless an infected person can wear gloves as well, anything they touch can spread the virus to others. If the event is held outdoors, maybe it is doable with a limited crowd.

Empty hall basho makes sense to me as it is not clear Tokyo will be safe to have 5000 spectator events in July. Perhaps, holding it outside of Tokyo is a viable option if NSK wants to allow spectators? I vote for Iwate area.

Nice job, Greece! There are increasing number of countries that beat (or beating) the virus. Unfortunately, they are in the minority. There are countries which eased the lockdown prematurely and they are paying heavily for it. EU is slowly getting better except Russia and a few others. South America, South Asia, Mexico are vying for the honor of being the COVID 19 epicenter. Who knows how many are dying in comparison to the official numbers. Sweden hasn't reached the herd immunity number yet. Far from it. An UK report days earlier claimed 7% but Sweden officials think it is more like 20%. Whopping 40% or more to go to reach their goal of 60% and their death per million is keep going up. Belarus continues to report same daily numbers: 930 - 950 new infections, and 4 - 7 deaths. Their graph path is .... flat! LOL. Officially reported death toll is 340000+ but I think it is greater than 500000 already. 500000 is likely a conservative estimate on my part considering unreported/uncounted numbers from China, Brasil, Ecuador, Mexico, Iran, ... And the winner is North Korea with 0 infection.