key: cord-0065384-2whe6tfu
authors: Ii, Masako
title: Comment on “COVID‐19's Lockdown and Crime Victimization: The State of Emergency under the Abe Administration”
date: 2021-03-29
journal: nan
DOI: 10.1111/aepr.12345
sha: 7907ba93785e8ec502f6d4535e00633b3526c05e
doc_id: 65384
cord_uid: 2whe6tfu

nan

. In fact, both papers conclude that the number of deaths by suicide declined during the initial phase of the pandemic (February to June 2020), but from July 2020 actually began to accelerate, exceeding suicide numbers in the previous year. The source of the increase was suicides among females, children, and adolescents. Furthermore, and somewhat disturbingly, the number of suicides recorded in October 2020 was higher than the total number of deaths due to COVID-19 from the entire months of February 2020 until October 2020. It would therefore be prudent to state the limitations of using suicide rates as a proxy for mental health. Although Shen et al. only analyzed data from January to May in 2020, they should be clear that, while their analysis suggests an initially positive effect on mental health during the lockdown (when proxied by suicide rates, which showed a significant fall during the voluntary lockdown period, primarily in suicides stemming from economic and living conditions), previous studies have shown that suicides increased in the period following the COVID-19 lockdown, and, thus, its medium-to-long-term effects on mental health present a much more complicated picture.

Finally, I wish to address one of the policy implications that Shen et al. put forward in their discussion. Having found that the lockdown reduced both violent and property crime rates, Shen et al. suggest that limited public resources could be reallocated from some sectorssuch as police and criminal justiceto health care, in order to alleviate the added stresses on the health sector during the pandemic. However, is it right to say that, overall, the Japanese health sector was under such levels of stress? Ii and Watanabe (2021) analyze the impact of the first, second, and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health care system in Japan, and find a drastic decline in outpatient visits and inpatient admissions. Only about 3% of the total general beds in Japan were used for COVID-19 patients. Those hospitals which accepted COVID-19 patients have been under additional stresses, but many other clinics and hospitals have, in fact, suffered from a loss in demand. While there may need to be resource reallocation within the health sector, a diversion of resources from other sectors may not be necessary.

The paradox of the COVID-19 pandemic: the impact on patient demand in Japanese hospitals

Sheltering in place and domestic violence: Evidence from calls for service during COVID-19

COVID-19's lockdown and crime victimization: The state of emergency under the Abe administration

Increase in suicide following an initial decline during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

Suicide and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan