On May 5, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the new coronavirus pandemic is no longer a "public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)". Three years and three months have passed since the COVID-19 PHEIC was declared on January 30, 2020, and we can acknowledge the latest announcement as the substantive declaration of the end to the COVID-19’s emergency phase though it was added technically that "The threat of the coronavirus has not completely disappeared." Accordingly, on May 8, Japan downgraded the legal classification of the new coronavirus from the current Class 2 to Class 5 according to the Infectious Diseases Control Law. In fact, it will change the system of infectious disease control measures. Government authorities will no longer give direct instructions and requests for infection prevention based on the relevant laws while individuals and business organizations will have to take necessary measures at their own discretion. Overcoming severe hardships with large sacrifices, we are finally getting back to a normal life.

Incidentally, it was February 7, 2020, that I (the writer of this column) first wrote about the new coronavirus pandemic in this column, saying, "Now Chinese New Year Festival is over, and the infrastructures in major cities in China have become paralyzed due to the pandemic. ‘Dark clouds’ are gathering over global economy.” Since then, I have repeatedly referred to the new coronavirus up to now, with a consistent key point that the pandemic has accelerated the coming of the future. In other words, structural reforms in society and industries such as digitalization, work-style reform, supply-chain restructuring, and accelerated business successions in small and medium-sized enterprises, have all made significant progress during the pandemic period. At the same time, the loss of inbound tourism implicitly showed us a simulation of the impact of shrinking domestic demand that will become a reality in the near future in Japan as a result of an unavoidable decreasing population.

While the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted social structural problems to be solved for the coming of the future, it encouraged us to start taking necessary action promptly. Unexpected travel restrictions caused an enormous damage to society. However, we can say the adverse situation facilitated the strategic shift from quantity-oriented to quality-oriented in various aspects of society. Furthermore, temporal functional failure in the system of globalization could have worked as a motivation for an urgent restructuring of business continuity Plans (BCP). Similarly, the promotion of digital transformation (DX) has become a top priority for the government as well as all the businesses. Work-style reform has also progressed rapidly, encouraging companies and people to change their principles of behavior and values. Concurrently, local communities have found new possibilities for the creation of related population in the field of specific activities.

Nevertheless, there still remain some issues. First of all, it is essential to conduct a scientific assessment of infectious disease countermeasures and evaluation of the effectiveness of every one of the measures implemented under the coronavirus pandemic. Besides, an increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are experiencing difficulty in financing amid the burden of regular repayment of so-called "zero-zero loans." Effective support measures that can lead them to change their business styles are also urgently needed. Most importantly, we should never forget the fact and existence of unjustified discrimination and prejudice against the COVID-19 patients, their families, medical professionals, and those people involved in certain business fields. We have witnessed not only a loud voice that called for the execution of coercive power accompanied by a restriction of people’s sovereignty but also a growing peer pressure that was closely related to aggressive mutual interfering behaviors. Now, we need to examine the social risks we may encounter at the time of emergency. It is the right time for each of us as a participant in a society to make an overall evaluation of both positive and negative aspects of the past three years because that will surely be a preparation for the next "emergency” situation.

This Week's Focus, May 12

Takashi Mizukoshi, the President