By VOA News
The Japanese government may declare a new state of emergency for the cities of Tokyo and Osaka in response to another surge of Covid-19 infections.
The Mainichi newspaper reported Wednesday (April 21) that Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is requesting to impose an emergency decree from April 29 to May 9, which coincides with Japan’s annual “Golden Week” public holiday period.
Tokyo and Osaka, along with several other prefectures, are already under a quasi-state of emergency, with restaurants and bars operating under shortened business hours.
Japan as a whole has been under two separate emergency decrees since the start of the pandemic, the last one having just expired on March 21. The previous decrees stopped short of imposing a legally binding nationwide lockdown, due to Japan’s post-World War II constitution, which weighs heavily in favor of civil liberties.
The new state of emergency, if granted, would leave in place current restrictions on opening hours, and also lead to the closure of theme parks, shopping malls, and other facilities. Osaka’s neighboring prefecture of Hyogo is also expected to be covered under the new emergency decree.
Japan has 542,467 confirmed Covid-19 cases, including 9,682 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The numbers are moderate compared to other nations, but enough to overburden Japan’s healthcare sector and complicate plans for the Tokyo Olympic Games, which are scheduled to begin in July after a one-year delay due to the pandemic. The Japanese capital posted a record-high 843 confirmed new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
Also complicating matters is the country’s sluggish vaccination drive, which got off to a slow start due to an acute shortage of vaccines. (VOA)/JBB-jlo
