As Japan returned to work yesterday following a holiday weekend, regional and national authorities moved toward boosting restrictions designed to contain the spread of a COVID-19 surge.
A campaign to spur domestic travel, which some have blamed for spreading infections, is to be partly suspended. The metropolitan region of Osaka, where cases have spiked, plans to ask bars and restaurants to close early, while Tokyo was reported to be making plans for similar steps as serious cases jumped to a new high in the city.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike last week said that severe cases, rather than sheer number of infections, were her “red line” that would spur further action.
Those cases, which the area defines as those on a ventilator or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, jumped 24 percent overnight to a total of 51, the most Tokyo has seen during the pandemic.
The local government is debating what level should be used to trigger a request that would ask stores to close early, local media have reported.
Broadcaster FNN, reporting before yesterday’s data were released, said that 50 or 75 cases had been suggested as a possible level that could trigger restrictions.
Tokyo reported 186 new cases yesterday, although that figure was likely lower than the past few days due to slower testing during the holiday weekend.
The country posted a total of 1,520 cases on Monday, the first time in six days that infections fell below 2,000 cases.
While the level of infections is not as dramatic as those in Europe and the US, the outbreak is raising concerns amid similar spikes in Asian regions from Hong Kong to South Korea as winter approaches.
Other regional authorities are also pushing ahead with steps to contain the surge in their areas.
Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura plans to ask bars and restaurants serving alcohol to close from 9pm for 15 days starting on Friday, Kyodo news reported, after the region saw more than 400 cases on both Saturday and Sunday, and infections grow among older people.
The “Go To Travel” subsidy program for those destined for Osaka and Sapporo would also be suspended, Japan Broadcasting Corp reported.
The move came after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said over the weekend that Japan would partly halt the campaign in areas where cases are increasing, without specifying the places affected.
“It is obvious that positive diagnoses are increasing due to the movement of people,” Koike earlier told a news conference. “It’s necessary to look at how to restrain this active movement of people.”
Koike was to meet Suga to discuss Tokyo’s involvement with the program later yesterday.
Japan’s government lacks the legal means for a harsh lockdown, but has been effective in requesting businesses and citizens to voluntarily take measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Severe cases nationwide, which uses a broader definition than Tokyo’s, rose to 331 as of Monday, surpassing the peak reached during the April state of emergency.
Similar regional restrictions during a summer surge helped bring an increase in cases under control.
While Suga has called for the utmost state of caution, national authorities are still reluctant to take steps that would reduce spending.
Japanese Minister of Finance Taro Aso yesterday told reporters that economic growth should not be halted and that the travel campaign should be responded to appropriately, while also indicating that the program could still be extended next year.
“We’ll take the most appropriate response as needed on the travel campaign while looking at the virus spread,” Aso said. “We can’t just stop the economy from growing.”
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese