Hundreds of flu-fearing residents line up to buy masks
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry reports that newly confirmed cases of H1N1 flu peaked last week, and the infection rate is now in decline. The government has eased anti-flu measures and flights from abroad will no longer face quarantine checks. Schools that were closed because of flu fears are reopening.
None of that seems to have had much of an effect on residents of Takarazuka, about 800 of whom lined up yesterday at city hall to buy protective masks:
The masks went on sale at 10:00AM and sold out quickly. Some people had arrived as early as 7:00AM to wait, and because the city had only 500 boxes of masks available, hundreds of people went home disappointed.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Sea of Japan, flu fears have whipped up xenophobic bullshit. Foreigners in South Korea, even some who have not traveled abroad in the last several months, are being treated as likely sources of disease. Parents of students are calling schools to inquire about the safety of having their children in the same room as a foreigner, and foreign teachers are being told to stay in their houses and avoid contact with other foreigners. Have any of this site’s readers experience something similar in Japan?
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