Pham Nguyen Quy Do you agree to a 30-50 percent cut in your income? Will you refrain from going out to meet friends and family for extended periods of time, maybe forever? These were much-debated questions in Japan where I live, as the country faced arguably the most impactful event of the decade in the form of a pandemic. Last year when the disease hit the country, authorities asked citizens to "refrain from going outside unless it was necessary or urgent." But it was difficult to pin down a definition of "necessary" or "urgent." For the first few months, people heeded the request. Not surprising, considering the nature of news coming in, of deaths in the thousands, and suffering in the millions. Over time, that sense of danger diminished, albeit slowly. People began to pay more attention to the costs of social distancing. For many, their jobs were their literal lifelines, keeping them and their family afloat. A pandemic disruption could lead them to ruin. And reports were already showing rising numbers of the unemployed, businesses and individuals going bankrupt and many having their incomes cut drastically. The demand for social security support increased 25 percent year-on-year. The hospital where I work constantly saw new patients with severe conditions, not because of Covid-19, but because of delayed diagnosis and intervention. Either their insurance had expired or they were "waiting for Covid-19 to die out." People were getting stressed, depressed and committing suicide. While there is a demographic of those more vulnerable to Covid-19 with underlying medical conditions, there are also those who are vulnerable after their incomes were cut. Without a financial safety net, that section of society also finds itself vulnerable to the disease. However, the very measures we put in place to stop Covid-19 have been double-edged. Society began classifying behaviors that reduce the chance of infection as "good" and the opposite as "bad." Of course …
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