Stimulus In Japan – People Get Paid If They Catch The Coronavirus
The Shinjuku district of Japan’s capital city, Tokyo, is offering any citizen who becomes infected with the coronavirus a check for 100,000 yen in a stimulus effort to battle the economic…
TOKYO, JAPAN – JULY 10: A general view of Kabukicho on July 10, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo confirmed 243 new Covid-19 coronavirus infections which is the highest in a single day today. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images)
The Shinjuku district of Japan's capital city, Tokyo, is offering any citizen who becomes infected with the coronavirus a check for 100,000 yen in a stimulus effort to battle the economic impacts of the pandemic. Before you get too excited, 100,000 yen is about $935 American dollars.
"As people infected with the coronavirus have no choice but to take time off work, their income may decline," an official told the Japan Times. This stimulus is available to anyone who lives in Shinjuku and gets the virus. But it could expand to other areas.
Home to over 350,000 people, Shinjuku houses the Kabukicho area — Tokyo's most famous Red Light district — as well as the city's biggest train station, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. As of June, 240 were eleigible for this payment.
The policy has faced criticism as some believe that people will intentionally catch the virus so they can get paid.
