Washington Post (8/29, Denyer, Kashiwagi) reported that while “Japan has the world’s oldest population, with an average age of 47 and a life expectancy of more than 81 years,” it has nevertheless “recorded [only] 1,225 deaths from COVID-19...compared with nearly 180,000 in the United States.” Moreover, “in Japan, 14 percent of the deaths were in eldercare facilities...compared with more than 40 percent in the United States, despite a lower proportion of U.S.
seniors living in nursing homes.” Kayoko Hayakawa, an infectious-disease specialist at the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, explained, “Japan’s elderly care facilities have taken great care in protecting the elderly, not just from this virus but from norovirus, influenza.