The coronavirus has officially arrived in Muroran. A receptionist at a pediatric clinic in the city was diagnosed earlier today. She had returned from Hawaii last week, went to work, a few days later began feeling 'a bit dodgy', got tested and lo and, indeed, behold, she has successfully taken the title of Muroran's 'patient zero'.
Cian thought it would be me, but no, yet again I disappointed the boy.
Mind you, I'd say there a fair few worried parents in the town tonight who have visited the clinic with their children over the past few days and must be imagining the worst.
And yet the Made-in-Japan absurdity train keeps right on rolling along. The school year is set to start as normal next week. Children will be asked to wash their hands a lot, wear masks, and the classroom windows will be opened at the end of each period.
There is snow forecast for this coming weekend, and masks can't be got around here for love nor money.
People are still being politely requested to 'refrain' from venturing out at weekends. As if the coronavirus only struck on Saturdays and Sundays.
Then there was this morning's paper. After a weekend that saw three successive days in which a new record was set for the number of new confirmed cases of the virus in Japan, the Hokkaido Shimbun's front page led with ...
Yes, that's right, the Olympics. Or more specifically, the new proposed course for the Olympic Torch relay. You couldn't make this up. The country is on the brink of an uncontrollable epidemic and Hokkaido's largest newspaper thinks that the most newsworthy topic is an event that has already been rendered utterly irrelevant by the rest of the world.
I would describe this as 'ostrich head in the sand' stuff, but that would be cruelly libeling the intelligence of the bird.
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