Japan: Number of October Suicides Exceeded All COVID-19 Deaths Throughout 2020

Morning commuters cross a road in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. Japan saw a 6.3% economic contraction in the last three months of 2019, fueling criticism of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision to carry out the tax increase at a vulnerable time for the economy. After factoring in the early signs of impact from the coronavirus, analysts now believe the economy is falling into recession. Photographer: Shoko Takayasu/Bloomberg

Japan has seen more of its people die in one month from suicide than from total COVID-19 deaths in 2020.

Japan’s National Police Agency reported that 2,153 people committed suicide in the month of October, while fewer than 2,000 people have died from COVID-19 all year.

While it is true that Japan has historically had high rates of suicide compared to other nations, suicides had generally decreased throughout 2020.

Despite the high number of suicides in October, the Japanese have avoided implementing draconian lockdowns and restrictions for the most part, though they have been seeing record high numbers of cases in the month of November. Thus it should be interesting to see what their suicide numbers for this month look like.

Meanwhile, in Canada, a CBC reporter recorded herself stalking church attendees on Sunday:

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