JAPAN had no lockdown
and NO huge death rate and the number of cases is decreasing.
Q. DOES A STATE OF EMERGENCY CAUSE A TOKYO LOCKDOWN?
A. No, Abe and officials say Japan cannot legally enforce hard lockdowns. Public transportation is operating as normal. Most state of emergency measures are requests and instructions. Violators cannot be punished unless they fail to comply with orders related to storage or shipment of emergency relief goods and medical supplies.
Q. WHY IS JAPAN NOT IMPOSING A HARD LOCKDOWN?
A. Japan’s history of repression under fascist governments before and during World War II has left the public wary of government overreach. The country’s postwar constitution lays out strict protections for civil liberties. Abe’s government was reluctant to risk severe economic repercussions from more severe measures...
April 2020
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/j...wn-whats-in-it
Japan May Have Beaten Coronavirus Without Lockdowns or Mass Testing. But How?
"Japan’s state of emergency is set to end with new cases of the coronavirus dwindling to mere dozens. It got there despite largely ignoring the default playbook.
No restrictions were placed on residents’ movements, and businesses from restaurants to hairdressers stayed open. No high-tech apps that tracked people’s movements were deployed. The country doesn’t have a center for disease control. And even as nations were exhorted to “test, test, test,” Japan has tested just 0.2% of its population — one of the lowest rates among developed countries.
Yet the curve has been flattened, with deaths well below 1,000, by far the fewest among the Group of Seven developed nations. In Tokyo, its dense center, cases have dropped to single digits on most days. While the possibility of a more severe second wave of infection is ever-present, Japan has entered and is set to leave its emergency in just weeks, with the status lifted already for most of the country and Tokyo and the remaining four other regions set to exit Monday....
“Just by looking at death numbers, you can say Japan was successful,” said Mikihito Tanaka, a professor at Waseda University specializing in science communication, and a member of a public advisory group of experts on the virus. “But even experts don’t know the reason.”
https://time.com/5842139/japan-beat-...ing-lockdowns/
Ok they "don't know the reason"
But using common sense we CAN say that the reason WASN'T LOCKDOWNS or MASS TESTING. (OR A VACCINE!!!)
that's a simple clear FACT.
the Time Mag article WANTS to claim all that contract tracing helped but they admit that Japans system "breaks down" after the number get too high. and they NEVER say HOW ... or THAT... contract tracing (tracking people) stopped any part of the outbreak.
........"The basic premise of Japan's strategy is "Test-Trace-Treat," or TTT. Once an infected individual has been identified through outward symptoms such as fever, each infection cluster is traced to the original source and everyone in the cluster is isolated and treated as necessary. This precise testing means that widespread testing of the population is not required, making it extremely cost-effective.
The approach was proven in February, when Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido experienced an outbreak. A cluster-based, TTT intervention -- along with closure of transport routes and a stay-home request from the governor -- successfully contained the outbreak."
https://www.insidejapantours.com/coronavirus-2020/
as i said NO universal STAY AT HOME orders, College Closures, Business closures, Restaurant Closure, Church closures, public transportation shutdown etc .
and NO MASS deaths or overrun hospital system.
they focused on the tested, Infected and Ill.
They did NOT shutdown down the whole nation.
there was NO need.
and I'll remind us that other epidemiologist have said that LIKE other corona viruses this one should have a short time to spread through out a population... a few months... then it's peaked and played out for the season. After which most of the population will have antibodies to deal with it. And "herd immunity" kicks in.