In addition to hospitals and facilities for the elderly, restaurants and karaoke bars have been pointed out as places where new coronavirus infection clusters (groups of infected people) have occurred. On the other hand, there are places where more than a few clusters are thought to occur without being known to the world. This is the case with the residences and workplaces of foreign trainees and international students.
The nationality of the new corona infected person is not disclosed due to government policy. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's "Domestic Trends in New Coronavirus Infectious Diseases", as of May 5, 2021, there were 111,539 "confirmed Japanese nationals", while "foreign nationals were confirmed". There are 5,001 people who are However, the total number of infected people is only about 20% of the total number of infected people, and this data alone does not give us a clear picture of the actual infection status of foreigners living in Japan.
In addition, even if trainees and international students are included in the cluster, they will only be reported as "employees" and the name of the company will not be disclosed unless the company agrees.
However, I am receiving information about the infection of foreigners one after another. In particular, the infection of Vietnamese people stands out.
For example, in April 2021, the largest cluster in the prefecture occurred at a food processing factory in western Japan. Newspapers and other media only reported that the infection spread in the company dormitory, but according to company officials, the majority of those infected were "Vietnamese trainees."
In February, there was also a cluster at a foreign student dormitory at a Japanese language school in western Japan. Many of the international students at this school are Vietnamese, and it is believed that a considerable number were among those infected.
Photo = iStock.com/fizkes * The photo is an image See all images (3 photos)Worrying news has arrived from Vietnam, where the infection is not as widespread as Japan. According to Vietnam's health ministry, 89 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the country in the week since April 12. All of them are immigrants from overseas, but more than 40% of them, 39, are Vietnamese who have returned from Japan.
Regular flights between Vietnam and Japan have been suspended, and all Vietnamese returnees are using charter flights. According to Vietnamese residents in Japan, there were two to three charter flights a week in mid-April. If "39" of those passengers were infected, the percentage is by no means small.
As of the end of 2020, the number of Vietnamese living in Japan reached 448,053, an increase of more than eight times since 2012. The number of foreign residents in Japan is second only to the Chinese. This is the result of a rapid increase in the number of Vietnamese who come to Japan as trainees or exchange students for the purpose of working abroad. Many trainees and international students want to return to their home countries due to the corona disaster. After arriving in Vietnam on a charter flight, it is likely that most of the trainees were found to be infected.