| Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga © AFP=News1 |
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has announced that he will review emergency declarations in the first and third prefectures of Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa. It will be declared as early as this week.
According to NHK and Nippon Geizai Shimbun, Prime Minister Suga held a press conference at the Prime Minister’s residence on the morning of that day and said, “Because the number of infected people is not declining and is at an extremely high level, we need to give a stronger message.”
Prime Minister Suga said, “In many areas, crowds declined last month, but in Tokyo and neighboring prefectures, the crowds in downtown areas did not decrease very much at night.”
The experts pointed out that most of the causes of infection with unknown paths are due to eating out, and cooperation is most effective in shortening restaurant business hours before dinner meetings. For this reason, the last time reduction in the first and third prefectures was accelerated from 8 pm I asked for a shortening.”
Prime Minister Suga explained, “The results will come out in areas where business hours have been shortened, such as Hokkaido and Osaka,” and “I think it is effective to do it in a limited and focused manner.”
When asked if the’Struggling Travel’ campaign, which will be suspended throughout Japan until the 11th, can be resumed, he replied, “If an emergency is declared, it will be difficult.”
Earlier, the Japanese government declared an emergency on 7 prefectures including Tokyo and Osaka on April 7 last year. On April 16th, the area covered by the emergency was expanded to all over Japan, and on May 25th, it was completely lifted.
When an emergency is declared, the head of each local government may request the business operator to shorten the business and working hours, and if they do not respond without a justifiable reason, they may give stronger orders or disclose the business name. Multi-use facilities such as schools and department stores can also be restricted.
Prime Minister Suga also said about the Corona 19 vaccine, “In the beginning, a pharmaceutical company said that clinical trial data will be available in February, but the Japanese government strongly requested (data) from the US headquarters and it will be decided during this month.”
Prime Minister Suga emphasized that “the government is preparing to proceed with safety and efficacy review, and to start vaccination at the latest in late February,” he said.
Regarding the confirmation of the mutated coronavirus in each country, he said, “We will in principle reject new entry of foreigners and strengthen entry regulations.” “The so-called’business track’ where business officials come and go is immediately stopped when a mutant virus is found in the other country. I decided to do it.”
Accordingly, it is expected that the business track (entering for business purposes) with Korea where the mutant virus was found will also be suspended. On the 28th of last month, the Japanese government completely suspended entry of all foreigners without a history of visiting their country, but it continued to maintain business tracks with 11 countries and regions including Korea and China.
Recently, Corona 19 is spreading exponentially in Japan, with more than 3,000 confirmed cases per day for 6 consecutive days. On the 31st of last month, the number of confirmed cases per day exceeded 4,000 for the first time ever, and the cumulative confirmed number exceeded 240,000.
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