Sir, – I spent most of the last two years at my desk with a view of the governor of Tokyo’s twin towers, feeling her vigilant eye upon me, warning me to stay in and to observe all due precaution.
Though moving with relative freedom in the populous city, I was kept safe from the virus thanks to the prudence and common sense of the Japanese.
Now, after one week back in Ireland, I am felled by Covid. This leads me to reflect on the reckless carelessness prevalent in Ireland even amid worries about a potential new wave. Mask-wearers seem to be seen as eccentrics or killjoys.
Assemblies that in Japan would require rigorous sanitising and social distancing proceed here with no attempt at protection. (It’s worth noting that Covid deaths in Japan number 246 per million; in Ireland 1,468 per million.)
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Having made such huge efforts in response to the Covid threat, we risk courting new disaster by prematurely letting our guard drop and failing to invest in commonsense measures. – Yours, etc,
JOSEPH S O’LEARY,
Suginami-ku,
Tokyo.
