60% of Japanese people still go to work with suspected symptoms of COVID-19

According to Kyodo News on the 4th, in mid-May this year, a research team led by Machida Masaki, assistant professor of Tokyo Medical University, conducted a questionnaire survey of 1,226 office workers in the Kanto region. The results showed that about 60% of people still persisted to work after they already have symptoms.  Because the initial symptoms of novel corona virus pneumonia are similar to those of a cold, the Japanese government requires people with similar symptoms not to go to work, but the survey results show that this appeal has not received enough attention.

The results of the survey also sparked heated discussions on the Internet in Japan. Some netizens said, “It's impossible to relax as I wish, even if I tell the company that I have a cold, the leader will not agree”; another netizen said, “Will It might be because people pay too much attention to the evaluation of people around me and society, and I feel that it is too unprofessional to ask for leave because of a fever." Another netizen said, "Japanese people are very good at meaningless self-sacrifice."