Photo/Illutration The Kokusai-dori main street, a popular tourist spot in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, is mostly deserted on Jan. 8, the first day of the three-day weekend. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

COVID-19 pre-emergency measures in Hiroshima, Yamaguchi and Okinawa prefectures have not had a significant impact as the health care system remains strained and daytime foot traffic remains relatively high in popular locations.

Changes in foot traffic before and after the pre-emergency measures took effect in the three prefectures on Jan. 9 as calculated through mobile phone location data by NTT Docomo Inc. were analyzed by The Asahi Shimbun. 

The results showed nighttime pedestrian traffic from Jan. 11 through Jan. 15 dropped by 39 percent on the Nagarekawa-dori street in Hiroshima’s entertainment district from that between Jan. 4, the first work day of the new year for most people, and Jan. 8.

The decline was 21 percent on the Kokusai-dori main street, a popular tourist spot in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, while it was 9 percent at JR Iwakuni Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The size of nighttime crowds from Jan. 18 through Jan. 22 remained almost unchanged in those areas from that between Jan. 11 and Jan. 15.

But daytime foot traffic from Jan. 11 through Jan. 15 dropped only slightly from that between Jan. 4 and Jan. 8. The decline was 7 percent on the Nagarekawa-dori street, 8 percent on the Kokusai-dori main street and 0.5 percent at JR Iwakuni Station.

According to a tally by The Asahi Shimbun, Okinawa Prefecture reported 460 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over the week through Jan. 9, while the number was 76 in Hiroshima Prefecture and 66 in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The figure for Okinawa Prefecture rose to 696 on Jan. 18 before dropping to 568 on Jan. 23. Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki said at a news conference on Jan. 24 that he believes the rise in cases has peaked in his prefecture.

But concerns were raised that the prefecture has been unable to test all those suspected of having contracted the virus amid surging infections.

Hiroshima Prefecture confirmed 322 new cases per 100,000 people over the week through Jan. 23, more than quadrupling from the count as of Jan. 9. The figure was 155 in Yamaguchi Prefecture on Jan. 23, more than twice that from two weeks earlier.

The Omicron variant can spread explosively since it is estimated to be roughly three times more transmissible than the Delta variant.

Hospital beds continue to be filled in those prefectures even after they were placed under the pre-emergency measures.

The occupancy rate of hospital beds stood at 40 percent in Okinawa Prefecture, 38 percent in Yamaguchi Prefecture and 30 percent in Hiroshima Prefecture, according to Cabinet Secretariat data as of Jan. 10.

But the rate soared to 58 percent in Okinawa Prefecture on Jan. 20, exceeding 50 percent, the threshold for issuing a COVID-19 state of emergency. The rate also rose to 48 percent in Yamaguchi Prefecture and 43 percent in Hiroshima Prefecture.

(This article was written by Ryoma Komiyama and Hiroshi Ishizuka.)

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