MANAMA: Bahrain is way ahead of Japan in the fight against Covid-19, with a high rate of testing and vaccination, according to a top envoy.
Japanese Ambassador Hideki Ito said Bahrain’s efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak since last year are worth emulating by other countries.
“Japan and Bahrain dealt with the pandemic differently, and I have seen how the government here dealt with it by increasing the PCR testing, which is even higher than Japan.
“Bahrain’s BeAware mobile app is very efficient but in Japan a similar app is not popular due to privacy concerns.”
The GDN reported yesterday that Bahrain, with a population of about 1.5 million, is inching towards the 3m PCR tests mark.
Mr Ito was speaking exclusively to the GDN on the eve of the 61st birthday of His Majesty Emperor Naruhito today.
He was enthroned on May 1, 2019.
This year’s birthday reception by the embassy has been cancelled due to Covid-19.
Mr Ito lauded the national Covid-19 immunisation drive, under which vaccines are being administered free of charge to everyone in the country.
The vaccination process started in December and now there are four different jabs offered: Sinopharm, Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Sputnik V.
Japan started administering the Pfizer/BioNTech jabs just last week.
“Bahrain is among the top five countries globally with a high vaccination rate, and we can learn many things from the kingdom’s advanced efforts,” said Mr Ito.
“While the entire world seems to be twisted around by Covid-19, it is reassuring that Bahrain under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince Prime Minister, has always taken pre-emptive measures against the coronavirus.”
However, the diplomat said Japan witnessed the third wave and the number of new cases was going down to about 1,400 all over the country.
Mr Ito added that some Japanese residing in Bahrain travelled back to their hometowns last year to look after the elderly members of their family.
He pointed out that not a single infection was reported among his community in Bahrain; there are about 170 Japanese residing in Bahrain.
“The pandemic might keep standing in our way for the time being, but we are determined to promote culture exchanges towards 2022, which is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.”
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