[flocial]

You just can't falsify a medical diagnosis and would you rather have a Prime Minister leading the country despite deteriorating health? Japan's COVID-19 situation is still way better than most countries. Whether it will hold is anyone's guess but he's not fit enough to make big decisions and at some point Japan might need another lock down.

I will say that I don't trust the LDP to rise above their internal bickering and backroom politics to choose someone capable of handling this pandemic but that is neither here nor there. We will find out soon.

There really isn't any stand out for LDP leadership post Abe and that's something that deeply concerns me.

[Aeolun]

> You just can't falsify a medical diagnosis and would you rather have a Prime Minister leading the country despite deteriorating health?

No, you are totally right. I never said it was rational :) My guess is the disease is playing up again now due to the stress he’s under.

> There really isn't any stand out for LDP leadership post Abe and that's something that deeply concerns me.

Yeah, I happen to agree with that, which might be what makes me so uncomfortable with him leaving.

He might not have been great, but things have unarguably been stable.

[gridlockd]

I think Japan shows that political leadership, of all factors, has minimal impact on COVID-19 outcome. The Japanese government did almost nothing and got away with it.

[jiggawatts]

They didn't have to, because much of their population already follows "COVID-safe" practices. A large fraction wears facemasks in public and especially on public transport. They bow instead of shaking hands. They don't kiss acquaintances on the face, unlike say the custom in parts of the middle east. They're very hygienic, even taking their shoes off when entering a home. Food workers wear masks and gloves. So do taxi and bus drivers. Etc, etc...

A full lockdown on top of this would have unnecessarily harmed their economy with little medical benefit.