The streets of Tokyo in a state of emergency are still crowded. Photo by Tian Yuxi/Bright Picture

　　[reporter connected] 　

　　When the Tokyo Olympic Games is in full swing, the situation of COVID-19 epidemic in Japan is deteriorating. On August 5th, 15,263 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Japan, exceeding 15,000 cases for the first time, reaching a new high in a single day. Among them, there were 5,042 new cases in Tokyo, the host city of the Olympic Games, which was the first time that there were more than 5,000 new confirmed cases in a single day in this region, creating a new high for two consecutive days. As of press time on the 6th, there were 4,515 new confirmed cases in Tokyo that day. The number of new cases in other areas involved in the Olympic Games, such as Chiba and Kanagawa, has also hit record highs in recent days.

　　At an expert meeting held in Tokyo on the 5th, experts attending the meeting believed that the COVID-19 epidemic in Tokyo was rapidly expanding, with an average of more than 3,000 new confirmed cases per day in the past seven days, an increase of seven times in one month. Therefore, Japanese experts predict that according to the current growth rate, the number of newly confirmed cases in Tokyo will reach 6,129 on August 11th and 10,909 on August 18th. In fact, as early as before the Tokyo Olympic Games, Japanese nationals tried their best to boycott the Tokyo Olympic Games for fear that the epidemic would intensify. They believe that the entry of a large number of foreigners will inevitably aggravate the domestic epidemic situation, and for the safety of Japanese people, the Tokyo Olympic Games should be cancelled.

　　However, is the worsening epidemic situation in Japan really due to hosting the Olympic Games?

　　On July 8 this year, Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide announced that Tokyo was once again in a state of emergency, and the implementation period was from July 12 to August 22. This is the fourth time that Tokyo, the host city of the Olympic Games, entered a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 epidemic. This also means that the Tokyo Olympic Games was held in a state of emergency in Tokyo, which directly led to almost all the Olympic Games being held in the absence of spectators. Undeniably, during the holding of the Tokyo Olympic Games, some Olympic-related personnel left the Olympic site and went to public places without authorization, and were disqualified from participating in the Tokyo Olympic Games. However, such cases are rare after all.

　　The state of emergency is "not as good as once"

　　Unlike the anti-epidemic measures of "closing cities" in most countries, Japanese local governments only publish the list of those who violate the regulations to uncooperative people or enterprises. Most people call this "soft anti-epidemic". For example, the government requires restaurants that provide alcohol to close down, and restaurants that do not provide alcohol to shorten their business hours; Large supermarkets shut down on weekends and shorten their business hours at ordinary times; Shorten the business hours of museums and cinemas; People try to avoid going out, and enterprises try to work at home. Therefore, the Japanese media believe that the effect of the state of emergency is now "not as good as once."

　　In view of this, the Japanese government also wants to adopt the method of economic compensation to encourage businesses that respond to the government’s call to shorten their business hours, but it is reported that many businesses have not received the subsidies promised by the Japanese government. As a last resort, they had to save themselves to avoid missing the night economy in summer. The reporter observed in Tokyo that some restaurants that provided drinks before the epidemic chose not to provide alcohol to extend their business hours in order to continue their business. In order to attract customers, there are even merchants who post advertisements "You can bring your own drinks" at the door. The narrow restaurant was crowded in the middle of the night, and there was no tension in the epidemic. Experts pointed out that the emergency measures tend to be loose, and they are encountering "drug resistance", and their inhibition on the COVID-19 epidemic is gradually weakening.

　　In addition, due to the recent intensification of the epidemic, medical resources in Tokyo and other places are becoming increasingly tense. The Japanese government announced on the 2nd of this month that, in principle, only severe patients and patients with high risk of severe illness can be hospitalized, and patients with moderate symptoms and mild symptoms are required to be isolated at home, and only when their condition deteriorates can they be hospitalized. A confirmed patient told reporters that because of his mild condition, the doctor asked him to go home and isolate himself. When the patient asked the doctor if he could go to the supermarket to buy food, the doctor’s answer was yes.

　　In the summer, people concentrated on fleeing from the "epidemic area"

　　According to Japanese media reports, during the obon Festival from August 6 to 15 this year, the air ticket booking rate of Japanese airlines increased compared with that of 2020, especially the air ticket booking rate of domestic routes in Japan increased significantly, among which ANA increased by 48% and JAL increased by 49.4%, which was nearly 50% compared with the same period in 2020. It can be expected that after the Bonin Festival, Japan will probably usher in another wave of epidemic peak.

　　In view of this, the governors of Tokyo Metropolitan Area (Tokyo, Kanagawa, saitama and Chiba) held a video conference this week to study the prevention and control measures of the epidemic and jointly appealed to the people not to travel in summer. At the meeting, the Japanese medical community agreed that the "Delta" mutant strain, which is spreading faster and more infectious at present, is the dominant epidemic in Japan. It is hoped that the people in the four places "should not travel or return home in principle during the summer vacation, and try to postpone the travel plan as much as possible". In addition, the governors of the four places also pointed out that people aged 20 to 39 with high epidemic rates should not drink alcohol or have dinner together on the roadside, and reminded people aged 40 to 59 with high risk of severe illness to pay special attention.

　　Young people are not interested in vaccination.

　　Vaccination with COVID-19 vaccine is one of the effective measures to fight the epidemic at present, but the vaccination rate of Japanese people lags far behind that of major western countries. According to the data of official website, the official residence of Japanese Prime Minister, by the end of July, about 43% of the population in Japan had received at least one dose of vaccine, and about 30% of the population had completed two doses of vaccination. Among them, among the elderly people aged 65 and over in Japan, the proportion of completing one dose of vaccination exceeded 86%. Due to various concerns about vaccines, the proportion of young people vaccinated in Japan is not high.

　　Some analysts believe that the mentality of "anti-epidemic fatigue" produced by Japanese young people is particularly obvious. Under the comprehensive effect of the Olympic Games and summer holidays, they have gone out of their homes and resumed their daily social activities, which directly leads to the fact that the number of people in an emergency has not decreased significantly compared with usual. This also gives more room for the spread of the menacing Delta mutant strain. In an interview at the end of July, Tarō Kōno, the Japanese minister in charge of administrative reform in charge of coordinating vaccination work, said that the proportion of young people in recent new infections is rising, and it is more important to improve the vaccination rate of young people than the vaccination rate. He said, "even if we slow down the vaccination rate a little, I think it is ok. What we need more is to reach out to young people and make them feel the need for vaccination."

　　(Guangming Daily, Tokyo, August 6 th, Guangming Daily reporter in Tokyo Zhang Guannan)

　　According to reports, relevant surveys at home and abroad show that the average daily working time of primary school students in the United States is 1.2 hours, that of South Korea is 0.7 hours, and that of primary school students in China is only 12 minutes. Xinhua News Agency reporters learned from interviews in some provinces that the lack of self-care ability and weak labor consciousness of primary and secondary school students are widespread, and the "twin deficits" situation of working time and working ability is outstanding.

　　Undoubtedly, labor education is as important as moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic education. Because labor education is not only an important way to cultivate students’ basic labor ability and survival ability, but also an important way to establish students’ correct labor concept and attitude, and also an important means to educate students to love labor and working people. But from the reality, the lack of labor education is quite serious.

　　According to the reporter’s investigation, less than 30% of primary school students often tidy up their rooms, clean up and wash dishes at home, and the average daily housework time of students is less than 10 minutes. In schools, classes, teaching, speaking and painting are common, which is not "real labor". Outside the school, labor practice is superficial and superficial, and its practical value is very limited.

　　In the context of the lack of labor education, even if students’ academic performance is good, they will get high marks and low energy, and may not even be able to take care of themselves in the most basic way, let alone establish a correct concept of labor and love labor. Although the social division of labor is becoming more and more detailed, life is becoming more and more intelligent, and many jobs no longer need students to do, the most basic labor ability should not be lacking.

　　There are many reasons for the lack of labor education. From the family point of view, parents do it everywhere, don’t give their children the opportunity to participate in labor, and only pay attention to their children’s study, so labor education is naturally lacking. From the school’s point of view, only paying attention to test scores and enrollment rate will inevitably despise labor education that is not included in the assessment system. In addition, the guidance of educational policies in the past was not comprehensive enough.

　　The good news is that after the General Secretary of the Supreme Leader first put forward the idea of "cultivating socialist builders and successors with all-round development of morality, intelligence, physique and beauty" in September 2018, the education policy of "moral, intellectual, physique and beauty" was formally developed into "moral, intellectual, physique and beauty" with five educations, which not only appeared frequently in the media, but also reflected in the language proposition of this year’s college entrance examination.

　　At the same time, the Ministry of Education clearly put forward to vigorously strengthen labor education in the main points of work in 2019. The objectives and tasks are: comprehensively build a policy guarantee system for the implementation of labor education, and carry out assessment, evaluation and supervision of labor education. Work measures include: issuing guidance opinions and guidelines for strengthening labor education, and amending the education law to incorporate "labor" into the education policy.

　　Once the above objectives and tasks are implemented, it is obvious that the shortcomings of education revealed by primary school students working for 12 minutes every day are expected to be gradually filled, and the quality education actively promoted by China will be more comprehensive, not only the students’ working ability will be improved, but also their cognition of labor and workers will change. The key to fill this short board of education is policy guidance, but it cannot be completely guided by policy.

　　To play a greater role, policy guidance must grasp several key points: First, through assessment, evaluation and supervision, local education departments and schools are forced to set aside reasonable time for labor education and really pay attention to the effect of labor education. Second, we should give full play to the guiding role of college entrance examination and senior high school entrance examination in labor education. Third, there must be relevant financial input.

　　By reasonably increasing the content of "labor" in the college entrance examination and senior high school entrance examination, effectively guiding family education to make up for the shortcomings of labor, it is also expected to change the phenomenon of social labor practice. This is because many parents don’t let their children work, but only let their children study. The main purpose is for the future senior high school entrance examination and college entrance examination. Starting with the "baton", they seize the bull’s nose.

　　Of course, in today’s rapid economic and social development, we should not only attach importance to traditional labor education, but also update our understanding of "labor", because today’s labor and traditional labor have changed from connotation to mode, and only by adapting to the times can we cultivate students’ interest in labor.

　　Comics/Bin Chen

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment informed the media today about the quality of surface water and ambient air in June and January-June, 2020.

I. Surface water

(1) General situation

In June, among the surface water assessment sections in 1940 countries, the proportion of sections with excellent water quality (Class I-III) was 71.4%, up 0.6 percentage points year-on-year; The proportion of inferior V sections was 2.5%, down 2.9 percentage points year-on-year. The main pollution indicators are chemical oxygen demand, permanganate index and total phosphorus.

Figure 1 Proportion of surface water quality categories in China in June 2020

From January to June, among the surface water assessment sections in 1940 countries, the proportion of sections with excellent water quality (Class I-III) was 80.1%, up 5.6 percentage points year-on-year; The proportion of inferior V sections was 1.1%, down 3.2 percentage points year-on-year. The main pollution indicators are chemical oxygen demand, total phosphorus and permanganate index.

Figure 2 Proportion of surface water quality categories in China from January to June 2020

(2) Water quality of major rivers

In June, the proportion of I-III water quality sections in seven major river basins, such as the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Pearl River, the Songhua River, the Huaihe River, the Haihe River and the Liaohe River, and the rivers in the northwest, southwest and Zhejiang and Fujian provinces was 75.1%, up 1.4 percentage points year-on-year; The inferior V category was 1.9%, down 3.2 percentage points year-on-year. The main pollution indicators are chemical oxygen demand, permanganate index and total phosphorus. Among them, the water quality of northwest and southwest rivers is excellent, the water quality of Yangtze River basin, Zhejiang and Fujian rivers, Pearl River basin and Yellow River basin is good, and Songhua River, Liaohe River, Huaihe River and Haihe River basin are slightly polluted.

Fig. 3 Proportion of water quality categories in seven major river basins, southwest and northwest rivers and rivers in Zhejiang and Fujian in June 2020.

From January to June, the proportion of I-III water quality sections in seven major river basins, such as the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Pearl River, the Songhua River, the Huaihe River, the Haihe River and the Liaohe River, and rivers in the northwest, southwest and Zhejiang and Fujian provinces was 83.8%, up 5.9 percentage points year-on-year; The inferior V class was 0.7%, down 3.8 percentage points year-on-year. The main pollution indicators are chemical oxygen demand, permanganate index and five-day biochemical oxygen demand. Among them, the water quality of northwest rivers, Yangtze River basins, Zhejiang and Fujian rivers, southwest rivers and Pearl River basins is excellent, the water quality of Yellow River and Songhua River basins is good, and Huaihe River, Haihe River and Liaohe River basins are slightly polluted.

Fig. 4 Proportion of water quality categories in seven major river basins, southwest and northwest rivers and rivers in Zhejiang and Fujian from January to June, 2020.

(three) the water quality and nutritional status of important lakes (reservoirs)

In June, among the 112 key lakes (reservoirs) monitored, the number of lakes (reservoirs) with I-III water quality accounted for 71.4%, up 2.6 percentage points year-on-year; The proportion of lakes (reservoirs) with water quality worse than Grade V was 7.1%, down by 1.2 percentage points year-on-year. The main pollution indicators are total phosphorus, chemical oxygen demand and permanganate index. Among the 97 key lakes (reservoirs) monitoring eutrophication, 6 lakes (reservoirs) are moderately eutrophic, accounting for 6.2%; 19 lakes (reservoirs) were slightly eutrophic, accounting for 19.6%; The other lakes (reservoirs) are not eutrophic. Among them, Taihu Lake is slightly polluted and slightly eutrophic, and the main pollution index is total phosphorus; Chaohu Lake has good water quality and mild eutrophication; Dianchi Lake is heavily polluted and moderately eutrophic, and the main pollution indexes are chemical oxygen demand, total phosphorus and permanganate index. Erhai Lake has good water quality and moderate nutrition; The water quality of Danjiangkou reservoir is excellent and medium nutrition; Baiyangdian Lake is slightly polluted and slightly eutrophic. The main pollution indexes are chemical oxygen demand, permanganate index and total phosphorus. Compared with the same period of last year, the water quality of Chaohu Lake has improved, the water quality of Dianchi Lake has declined, and the water quality of Taihu Lake, Erhai Lake, Danjiangkou Reservoir and Baiyangdian Lake has not changed significantly. The nutritional status of Danjiangkou Reservoir has improved, but the nutritional status of Taihu Lake, Chaohu Lake, Dianchi Lake, Erhai Lake and Baiyangdian Lake has not changed significantly.

From January to June, among the 112 key lakes (reservoirs) monitored, the number of lakes (reservoirs) with I-III water quality accounted for 75.9%, up 9.8 percentage points year-on-year; The proportion of lakes (reservoirs) with water quality worse than Grade V was 5.4%, down by 1.9 percentage points year-on-year. The main pollution indicators are total phosphorus, chemical oxygen demand and permanganate index. Among the 109 key lakes (reservoirs) monitoring eutrophication, 5 lakes (reservoirs) are moderately eutrophic, accounting for 4.6%; 19 lakes (reservoirs) were slightly eutrophic, accounting for 17.4%; The other lakes (reservoirs) are not eutrophic. Among them, Taihu Lake is slightly polluted and slightly eutrophic, and the main pollution index is total phosphorus; Chaohu Lake has good water quality and mild eutrophication; Dianchi Lake is moderately polluted and moderately eutrophic, and the main pollution indicators are chemical oxygen demand and total phosphorus. The water quality of Erhai Lake and Danjiangkou Reservoir is excellent and medium nutrition; Baiyangdian Lake is slightly polluted and slightly eutrophic, and the main pollution index is chemical oxygen demand. Compared with the same period of last year, the water quality of Chaohu Lake and Erhai Lake has improved, the water quality of Dianchi Lake has declined, and the water quality of Taihu Lake, Danjiangkou Reservoir and Baiyangdian Lake has not changed significantly. The nutritional status of Dianchi Lake has declined, but there are no obvious changes in Taihu Lake, Chaohu Lake, Erhai Lake, Danjiangkou Reservoir and Baiyangdian Lake.

(four) the ranking of national surface water assessment sections in cities at or above the prefecture level

The cities at the prefecture level and above in the country participated in the ranking, covering 2050 national control sections (including 1940 national surface water assessment sections and 110 sea control sections). In June, among the cities at the prefecture level and above in China, the water environmental quality of national surface water assessment sections in 30 cities such as Laibin, Guilin and Zhangye was relatively good (from 1st to 30th), while the water environmental quality of national surface water assessment sections in 30 cities such as Cangzhou, Fuxin and Chifeng was relatively poor (from 1st to 30th). From January to June, among the cities at the prefecture level and above in China, the water environment quality of national surface water assessment sections in 30 cities such as Zhangye, Jinchang and Liuzhou was relatively good (from 1st to 30th), while the water environment quality of national surface water assessment sections in 30 cities such as Tongchuan, Cangzhou and Xingtai was relatively poor (from 1st to 30th). The changes of water environmental quality of national surface water assessment sections in 30 cities such as Yingkou, Lvliang and Liaoyuan are relatively good (from 1st to 30th), while the changes of water environmental quality of national surface water assessment sections in 30 cities such as Tongchuan, Daqing and Chifeng are relatively poor (from 1st to 30th). See Schedule 1 ~ Schedule 6 for details.

Second, the ambient air

In June, the average number of excellent days in 337 cities at or above the prefecture level was 85.1%, up 5.9 percentage points year-on-year; The concentration of PM2.5 was 19 μ g/m3, down 13.6% year-on-year; The concentration of PM10 was 40 μ g/m3, down by 7.0% year on year. O3 concentration was 143 μ g/m3, down 8.3% year-on-year; SO2 concentration was 8 μ g/m3, down 11.1% year-on-year; NO2 concentration was 18 μ g/m3, down 10.0% year-on-year; The CO concentration was 0.8 mg/m3, down 11.1% year-on-year.

From January to June, the average number of excellent days in 337 cities at or above the prefecture level was 85.0%, up 4.9 percentage points year-on-year; The concentration of PM2.5 was 36 μ g/m3, down 10.0% year-on-year; The concentration of PM10 was 59 μ g/m3, a year-on-year decrease of 14.5%. O3 concentration was 141 μ g/m3, down 1.4% year-on-year; SO2 concentration was 10 μ g/m3, down 16.7% year-on-year; NO2 concentration was 23 μ g/m3, down 14.8% year-on-year; The CO concentration was 1.3 mg/m3, down 13.3% year-on-year.

Figure 5 Proportion of days in 337 cities at prefecture level and above in China from January to June 2020.

Fig. 6 Concentration and year-on-year changes of six indicators in 337 cities at prefecture level and above in China from January to June 2020.

In June, the average number of excellent days in "2+26" cities in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei and its surrounding areas was 36.9%, up 16.2 percentage points year-on-year; The concentration of PM2.5 was 35 μ g/m3, down 2.8% year-on-year. From January to June, the average number of excellent days was 59.7%, up 12.6 percentage points year-on-year; The concentration of PM2.5 was 55 μ g/m3, a year-on-year decrease of 16.7%.

The proportion of excellent days in Beijing in June was 33.3%, down 3.4 percentage points year-on-year; The concentration of PM2.5 was 32 μ g/m3, a year-on-year decrease of 17.9%. From January to June, the proportion of excellent days was 71.4%, up 9.0 percentage points year-on-year; The concentration of PM2.5 was 43 μ g/m3, down 8.5% year-on-year.

The average number of excellent days in 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta region in June was 84.2%, up 19.1 percentage points year-on-year; The concentration of PM2.5 was 20 μ g/m3, a year-on-year decrease of 25.9%. From January to June, the average number of excellent days was 84.1%, up 10.5 percentage points year-on-year; The concentration of PM2.5 was 37 μ g/m3, a year-on-year decrease of 21.3%.

The average number of excellent days in June in 11 cities in Fenwei Plain was 60.9%, up 9.7 percentage points year-on-year. The concentration of PM2.5 was 28 μ g/m3, which was flat year-on-year. From January to June, the average number of excellent days was 66.5%, up 12.1 percentage points year-on-year; The concentration of PM2.5 was 53 μ g/m3, down 18.5% year-on-year.

In June, among the 168 key cities, Tangshan, Taiyuan and Jincheng were relatively poor in air quality (from the last one to the last 20); Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Shenzhen and other cities have relatively good air quality (from 1st to 20th, see attached table 7).

From January to June, among the 168 key cities, Shijiazhuang, Anyang and Taiyuan were relatively poor in air quality (from the last one to the last 20); The air quality in Haikou, Lhasa, Zhuhai and other cities is relatively good (from 1st to 20th, see attached table 8).

From January to June, among the 168 key cities, Baotou, Hohhot, Harbin and other cities improved their air quality relatively poorly (from the last one to the last 20); Yichang, Chizhou, Jingmen and other cities have improved their air quality relatively well (from the first place to the 19th place, see attached table 9).

Schedule 1 The top 30 cities and their water bodies in the national surface water assessment section in June 2020.

Schedule 2 The last 30 cities and their water bodies ranked by the national surface water assessment section in June 2020.

Note: The water quality of the water bodies marked with * in the table meets Class I or Class II of Environmental Quality Standard for Surface Water (GB3838-2002)Ⅰ).

Schedule 3 Top 30 Cities and Water Bodies in the National Surface Water Assessment Section from January to June, 2020.

Attached Table 4 The last 30 cities and their water bodies in the national surface water assessment section from January to June, 2020.

Note: The water quality of the water bodies marked with * in the table meets Class I or Class II of Environmental Quality Standard for Surface Water (GB3838-2002)Ⅰ).

Table 5 Changes of water environment quality of national surface water assessment section in January-June, 2020 ranked the top 30 cities and their water bodies.

Table 6 Changes of water environment quality of national surface water assessment section from January to June, 2020 ranked the last 30 cities and their water bodies.

Schedule 7 List of Top 20 and Last 20 Cities in Ambient Air of 168 Key Cities in June 2020

Schedule 8 List of Top 20 and Bottom 20 Cities of 168 Key Cities from January to June, 2020

Attached Table 9 List of Top 20 and Bottom 20 Cities in Air Improvement of 168 Key Cities from January to June, 2020