Baseless coronavirus rumors damaging families, relationships in Japan

Two years have already passed since the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Japan, and measures such as multiple state of emergency declarations have been taken intermittently. But misinformation and false rumors about the virus and vaccines have been spreading as if to take advantage of people under stress and anxiety, and have damaged relationships and family ties. One example is a woman in her 30s residing in the Kanto region in east Japan, who married her husband about 10 years ago and now lives with their two children. When infections began to spread in Japan for the first time in the spring of 2020, her partner often washed his hands and always wore a face mask when going out.