Japan yesterday declared a month-long state of emergency over a spike in COVID-19 cases, ramping up efforts to contain infections, but stopping short of the strict lockdowns seen in other parts of the world.
The government has come under mounting pressure to tackle an outbreak that remains small by global standards, but has raised concerns among Japanese medical experts, with warnings that local healthcare systems are already overstretched.
Announcing the measures, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged Japanese to draw on the sense of togetherness seen after the country’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown in 2011.
Photo: Reuters
“We are again facing a great difficulty. However, if we work together once again with hope, we will rise to the challenge and move forward,” he said. “We will beat the virus, we will defeat the virus and we can overcome the ordeal of this state of emergency.”
The move allows governors in seven affected regions, including Tokyo, to ask people to stay indoors and request that businesses close, but there are no enforcement mechanisms and no penalties for those who fail to comply.
“Although a state of emergency is declared, it will not mean a city lockdown as seen overseas,” Abe said, adding that public transport would run as normal and roads would not be blocked.
However, he urged people to take the declaration seriously, telling Japanese that “everything will depend on your actions.”
Pressure to declare an emergency grew after several days of record new infections in Tokyo, although the numbers are far smaller than in many parts of the world, with about 80 cases reported yesterday.
Seven regions are covered by the month-long declaration: Tokyo, neighboring Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama, the western hub of Osaka and neighboring Hyogo, and the southwestern region of Fukuoka.
The economic impacts of the declaration and the broader global pandemic have raised concern of a recession in Japan, with Abe yesterday saying that the domestic and global economy face their “biggest crisis since World War II.”
His Cabinet earlier approved plans for a stimulus package worth ¥108.2 trillion (US$993 billion), or 20 percent of GDP.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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