10 Mar 2020

Covid-19: Japanese political scientist slams his govt

From Morning Report, 8:44 am on 10 March 2020

A Japanese political scientist says his government's response to the coronavirus outbreak has been "staggeringly incompetent" and is warning about the country hosting the Olympics in July.

Koichi Nakano from Sophia University in Tokyo calls the Diamond Princess cruise ship - where more than 600 people contracted the virus in two weeks - an "epidemiological disaster."

He says the response can be attributed to Japanese bureaucracy which prioritises stability and conformity, and shuns anything that might rock the institutional boat.

Corin Dann speaks to Nakano about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's response to the crisis.