JAPAN VOWS HUGE STIMULUS AS CASES SEE A RECORD RISE

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday promised a massive unprecedented package of steps to cushion the economy from the coronavirus pandemic, saying the country was close to a national emergency as infections surged in Tokyo.

Abe told a country that is seeing a rising number of deaths and cases from the outbreak that the “huge, powerful” measures would be greater than the response to the global financial crisis of 2008.

The government will craft the stimulus within about 10 days, Abe said, as officials confirmed a further 60 cases in Tokyo. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike earlier issued a plea following a surge in coronavirus infections this week that she said put Tokyo on the brink of an emergency.

She has asked the tens of millions of people in the city and surrounding regions to avoid non-essential, non-urgent outings until 12

April, and particularly this weekend. Infections in Japan have climbed to more than 1,400, with 47 deaths, excluding those from a cruise ship quarantined last month. Hit early by the coronavirus in its initial spread from China, Japan had seen a more gradual rise than the recent surge in much of Europe and the United States. Abe this week called the situation “a national crisis”. People in the Osaka area in western Japan have also been asked to stay at home. While the current level of infection appears low for a city of nearly 14 million, with many millions more living in surrounding suburbs, experts warn there is a high risk that the number of cases could spiral as authorities have been unable to track all the contacts of more than half of the latest cases.