I’m a shortlisted JET whose tentative date to ship out is August 20th. I’m anxious but very excited and grateful for the opportunity. However, in informing some of my coworkers about my move, I keep saying IF all goes to plan as I keep in mind what happened to JET participants in 2020. Everyday there is another case of monkeypox and every time I read about it I have the fear that by the time I am supposed to go to Japan, the borders might close. Anyone else thought of this or has any fear of a similar situation?
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Obligatory, I am not a doctor, and correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t monkey pox only contagious through bodily fluids where COVID was water droplets?
I feel like something that spreads like that cannot become a pandemic in places with areas of hygiene such as Japan.
But again, correct me if I am wrong because this is not my field lol
I’m not so worried. I think the world has realized how much our economies are dependent on tourism. So, things are opening back up slowly.
Monkeypox doesn’t transmit easily via the air, only through extremely close contact, like shagging. There’s also vaccinations for it developed already, via smallpox. Don’t worry.
Unless you plan to attend an orgy your risk of contracting monkeypox is very low. I’d rethink orgy attendance for the time being.
Nowhere near a doctor or any other kind of medical practicioner, yet at least is my understanding of it…
It’ll likely not get to pandemic levels, given we have both vaccinations available for it (the same used against smallpox) and treatments as well. Monkeypox also doesn’t spread as easily given you need close contact with droplets or the sores. The virus which causes it has been known about for decades, too. Compare this to COVID; it was/is an inherently new version of a corona virus with (at the time it roared across the world) no existing treatments or vaccines available, and spreads very easily through the air.
Main reason monkeypox is spreading ‘easily’ now is that the vast majority of people aren’t vaccinated against smallpox given it was eradicated aside from a lab sample kept as a “just in case”.