What State of Emergency?

So I'm a bit puzzled. The State of Emergency began today for several prefectures here in Japan. Kanagawa was one of them. I live in Yokohama, but I'm very close to Tokyo as well. As I mentioned yesterday, schools were not requested to close this time around. I think a lot of us teachers were ready to go back to remote learning and teaching online. As we started back to school today, I wondered if perhaps I'm just too negative in my way of thinking. I'm the type of person who is always thinking "worst-case scenarios" so that I can come up with a plan A, B, C, D, and X to avoid, prevent or deal with what happens. When I'm dealing with my students or working with children, I'm constantly observing or being aware of accidents waiting to happen or situations that might go out of control. Is that normal or am I truly looking at things from a cracked set of rose-colored glasses?!

Over the broadcast system, our headmaster welcomed the students back and said how despite this state of emergency beginning today, the government chose to keep schools open so that everyone can still come to school and enjoy their school life, see their friends and learn what they needed to. He mentioned that the children should be aware that during this state of emergency, it's important to be mindful of manners on the train and to ride quietly. It was a nice, cheerful speech, but was it enough to let our students know what responsibilities they have in keeping themselves and each other safe? I guess we'll see what happens when classes resume tomorrow.

I'm also puzzled by the logic happening around me. The government believes that many of the untraceable cases of Covid could have originated from restaurants, pubs, and bars, or socializing over food and drinks at home parties, events, or food establishments. It's funny how only a few months ago, the government was promoting these Go To Eat campaigns, and people were encouraged to go out to eat and take advantage of these discounts. If you don't believe me, go check the galleries or picture posts on social media of influencers and people in Japan who were taking advantage of these deals. I'm not guilt-shaming anyone, but there were (and still are) a lot of people who were not worried about the risks or the possibility of being exposed to the virus. So now, during this state of emergency, restaurants, and venues that serve alcohol and food are being asked to close at 8:00 pm in order to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. Well, a colleague of mine suggested we all go out to lunch today as sort of a welcome back to school. I politely refused and questioned whether that was a good idea. The suggestion was then changed to bringing our lunch or picking our lunch up somewhere and eating it together. Now, correct me if I'm wrong. I would think that eating lunch and socializing over lunch is just as risky as eating dinner and socializing over dinner. I don't think Coronavirus cares what time of day it is, but rather the conditions which make a person vulnerable to getting infected while they are talking, eating and drinking without masks. Unfortunately, that is how one of my friends became infected. His office spent lunch breaks together eating in the lunchroom and sometimes even having pot luck lunches. The reaction I received from my colleague was sort of like, "Oh yeah...I guess it isn't the best idea." Another colleague of mine claims to be high risk and is worried about getting infected, yet I don't see this person practicing safe distancing from the students and our other colleagues. My teaching partner and I are constantly wiping surfaces or items down whereas they admittedly do not have enough time to disinfect surfaces. Huh?!

I guess I am having trouble understanding why stricter measures are not being taken and why the approaches to control the virus are being done in this baby-steps manner. I never realized how much of a "better safe than sorry" person I am even though I am someone who has never been afraid to take risks or be on the adventurous side. Maybe it has to do with growing older. It breaks my heart that so many senior citizens who have worked so hard cannot enjoy their retirement, spend time with their grandchildren (or even their own children) or do all the things they enjoy doing.

On that "happy" note, time to get to bed because classes for me resume tomorrow.

xox

This is the design I made to mark the distances in front of my classroom. I tell the children to stand in the red circle.

Thank you to https://www.canva.com/ who helped me create this distance marker.