What's behind the rapid disappearance of the delta variant in Japan

by yoquanon 11/22/2021, 2:49 AMwith 17 comments

by legerdemainon 11/22/2021, 8:32 AM

  > According to a potentially revolutionary theory
  > proposed by Ituro Inoue, a professor at the
  > National Institute of Genetics, the delta
  > variant in Japan accumulated too many
  > mutations to the virus’s error-correcting,
  > non-structural protein called nsp14. As a
  > result, the virus struggled to repair the errors
  > in time, ultimately leading to “self-destruction.”
I know it's been 50 years since its publication, but please don't spoil the plot of The Andromeda Strain likes that, Japan Times.

by drumheadon 11/22/2021, 1:15 PM

They've shut their borders to virtually everyone since the Olypics ended, they've got one of the highest rates of vaccination in the G20, they also follow the masks, distancing and hygiene rules quite carefully, so that could explain why its not spread as much over there. However there's also a huge stigma attached to catching covid in Japan, which could lead to under reporting, also the presentation of the data may have been a bit inaccurate in the past, it may be better now, but we dont know.

by sasaf5on 11/22/2021, 10:51 AM

http://web.archive.org/web/20211121142824/https://www.japant...

by tasogareon 11/22/2021, 8:52 AM

Government wanting to relaunch economy? Maybe they finally get that high count of infected doesn't matter if it doesn't kill people, and that the anti-social measures are going against other goals such as birth rate (which is made difficult since people meet way less than before) so it sends the memo to the media and scientists.