Japanese largely ignoring restrictions
Nation complacent but sees spike of new cases
TOKYO — Japan’s expanded state of emergency went into effect Thursday as the government seeks to stop a surge of new coronavirus infections, though many people appeared to be ignoring the requests to avoid nonessential travel under the nonbinding restrictions.
People were still commuting on crowded trains and buses in Osaka, Fukuoka and other areas of the seven new prefectures placed under the state of emergency. In Tokyo, where the emergency decree has already been in place for a week, the governor expressed concern about people not following the official guidance.
“I thank for your cooperation, but the number of people up and about in town has not been significantly reduced,” Gov. Yuriko Koike told reporters.
She said the state of emergency is not just about avoiding eating out at night or for restaurants to close early, but to reduce contacts among people.
“The virus has no calendar, clock or even a map. Day or night, or prefectural borders doesn’t matter,” she said. “Please avoid going out for nonessential purposes.”
Under the state of emergency that now covers areas home to more than half of Japan’s population, bars and restaurants have been asked to close by 8 p.m., employers have been asked to have 70 percent of their staff work from home, and residents in the affected areas have been asked to avoid going out for nonessential purposes. Reduced capacity has also been requested for sports and other events.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government has said the measures are needed to prevent an increase in infections in urban areas from spilling over to smaller towns where medical systems are vulnerable. Suga has called the situation “severe” and asked the people to cooperate, though in Japan the requests are nonbinding and those who ignore them are not punished.
The Tokyo governor urged the country’s main business organization to encourage employers to do more to promote remote work and reduce commuting as requested by the government.
In other developments:
■ The United Kingdom is banning arrivals from South America following evidence of a new variant of the coronavirus in Brazil. The government said that beginning at 4 a.m. Friday, arrivals will no longer be allowed from all South American countries as well as the Cape Verde islands off the west coast of Africa and Panama in Central America.
■ Dozens of COVID-19 patients in the Amazon rainforest’s biggest city will be flown out of state as the local health system collapses, authorities announced Thursday as dwindling stocks of oxygen tanks meant some people were starting to die breathless at home.
■ All of France will be under a stricter curfew starting Saturday at 6 p.m. for at least 15 days to fight spread of the coronavirus. French Prime Minister Jean Castex also announced strict new controls for those arriving in France from countries outside the European Union.
■ Italy’s vaccination program is moving faster than expected, with those over age 80 receiving their first injection this week instead of early February. Health officials say by Thursday evening, more than 900,000 people in Italy had received a shot of one of the two vaccines so far approved for use by the European Union.