COVID is the new member of AKB48

If catching COVID was an Olympic Sport, Team AKB48 would win gold. Because as I write this, a total of 11 members of tested positive for COVID. And there are other members of the 48 units who have caught it too.

Lawd.

Of all the reasons as to why having groups this large with constantly rotating members is a bad idea, I don't think we ever foresaw infections spreading like wildfire as one of them.

Because there are so many members, and trying to pin-point who came in contact with whom and when is pretty much pointless - all members of AKOVID-48 are said to be in quarantine. And I imagine the same goes for their staff too.

Whilst many people in the world want to act like the pandemic is over and COVID is a thing of the past, we are very much still in a pandemic and COVID is very much still here in the present. And it's easy to forget that COVID is still running rampant in Japan, given the Olympics are taking place and sucking up all of the air when it comes to news. But cases are still rising, the Delta variant is still living its best life, and vaccinations aren't rolling out as fast everywhere around the world as they are in the UK and in states such as New York.

Lots of places are starting to relax rules like this shit is over, but it's not, and people need to start coming around to the fact that things won't go back to normal. We'll be entering a new normal. Mask wearing isn't mandatory here in the UK, but I still wear my mask and will continue to forever, forever-ever, FO'EVA, EVA. You won't catch me in no cinema, on no train, plane or any form of public transport without a mask on, because people be nasty and these places been nasty.

Japan is fortunate in the sense that mask wearing is widespread and a cultural thing, which has long been a theory as to why COVID didn't seem to fuck up Japan as badly as it did the US and countries around Europe. Although cases there haven't exactly been low.

So to each of you who read this, please continue to stay safe and act responsibly. And as for AKOVID-48, they should probably just do livestream gigs with the set teams, and not rotate members for a while.