Abe to mull relaxing virus emergency later this week
TOKYO: The Japanese government will decide whether the nationwide state of emergency over the novel coronavirus can be partially lifted on Thursday after consulting a panel of experts, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday.
Mr Abe has indicated some prefectures could be taken off the list of prefectures placed under the state of emergency before its May 31 expiry. Speaking in parliament, he said Japan is on a “steady” path toward ending the coronavirus epidemic.
“We are planning to hear expert opinions on May 14 and announce if any partial lifting will be possible,” Mr Abe told a session of the lower house budget committee.
The premier initially issued a monthlong state of emergency until May 6 for seven urban areas including Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka. He expanded it to all 47 prefectures in mid-April and extended it by about a month until May 31 in the hope there would be a downtrend in new cases, thereby easing the strain on hospitals.
The government has divided the 47 prefectures into two groups. The first group, numbering 13, is made up of prefectures such as Tokyo and Osaka, which require special caution due to their large number of infections. The remaining 34 are not on such a alert.
Economic revitalisation minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told the same parliamentary session that the emergency declaration could be lifted in “many” of the 34 prefectures if the infection situation is judged to have stabilised. The same can be also said of the other 13 prefectures, Mr Nishimura said.
Even if the state of emergency is removed, however, the government will continue to ask people to refrain from moving across prefectural borders and holding large gatherings.
“If the number of infections rises and signs of ‘overshooting’ emerge [in a prefecture where the state of emergency has been lifted], we’d have to consider placing it under the declaration again,” Mr Nishimura said. Japanese officials use “overshooting” to mean an explosive increase in virus cases.
The government has faced the difficult challenge of pursuing containment and the resumption of some economic activities at the same time.
Amid increasing calls for more emergency measures to support struggling businesses and students and another extra budget to fund them, Mr Abe said he will act “boldly if judged necessary”.
He told the parliamentary session that the government will take additional steps to extend support to students who are struggling financially and whose income depends on part-time jobs.
Last week, the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito proposed to Mr Abe that the government should shoulder part of the rent for small and midsize companies hit by sharp revenue falls due to the coronavirus pandemic.