TOKYO – Three prefectures in the metropolitan area here and Osaka entered into a Covid-19 state of emergency today due to a recent spike in Covid-19 cases, joining the capital and Okinawa, amid fears of a medical system collapse during the Tokyo Olympics, according to Kyodo News.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga added the Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama and Osaka prefectures to areas under the emergency from today through to August 31. The emergency period here and in Okinawa was also extended to the end of the month from the initially planned August 22.
Establishments serving alcohol or offering karaoke services in the six prefectures under the emergency are asked to suspend their business during the period, with the government providing monetary compensation for compliance. Those not serving liquor are requested to close at 8pm.
Outside the six prefectures, a quasi-state of emergency that carries fewer restrictions on business activity, was imposed on parts of five prefectures – Hokkaido, Ishikawa, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka – from Monday to the end of this month.
The report added that governors are also authorised to ease restrictions based on improvements on the situation.
The surge of infections comes amid the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, first detected in India, with the rise becoming particularly noticeable after a four-day weekend last month and fuelling worries about the strain on the country’s healthcare system.
According to data released by the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry, the number of Covid-19 patients being taken care of at home stood at 18,927 as of July 28, 1.8 times higher than in the previous week.
Bed occupancy rates here, in the Saitama, Ishikawa and Okinawa prefectures were 50% or higher – a level that the government’s Covid-19 subcommittee designates as stage 4 – the highest stage of alert in the country.
The National Governors’ Association yesterday urged people to refrain from travelling across prefectural borders following the summer and Obon holidays. They also urged those going on essential trips to undergo virus screening tests.
In a meeting on the same day, the association agreed to ask the central government to explore ways to impose lockdowns to better contain the virus, particularly concerned about the transmission of a more contagious variant.
Suga said previously, he believes legislation that would enable the government to impose harsh lockdowns as many major cities abroad did last year, would “not suit” the Japanese.
The central government also wants people to refrain from crossing prefectural borders in principle.
Suga had told a press conference on July 30 that he “will conduct anti-virus measures to make this declaration the last (Covid-19) emergency”.
He also said that the government aims to have more than 40% of the public fully vaccinated by this month. – Bernama, August 2, 2021
