Abe and DPM avoid joint meetings as lockdown pressure rises

Japan’s prime minister and his deputy won’t attend meetings together to cut coronavirus risks as pressure for a lockdown builds, with domestic cases topping 2,000 and a minister saying the country’s containment strategy was stretched to the limit.

Shinzo Abe told Cabinet members yesterday that his second-incommand, Taro Aso, would no longer be present at any meeting the prime minister attends, a government spokesperson said, in a move to guard the leadership against infection that could hamper Japan’s efforts to contain the outbreak.

Abe’s step came as Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said that Japan was not yet in a situation to declare a state of emergency, triggering a potential lockdown, but that the situation was precarious.

“We’re just barely holding it together,” he told reporters yesterday.

“If we loosen our grip even a little, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a sudden surge (in cases).”

Speculation that a lockdown may come soon has been intense in the capital, fuelled by rising numbers of domestic cases.

Any lockdown in Japan would look different from mandatory measures in some parts of Europe and the United States. By law, local authorities are only permitted to issue requests for people to stay at home, which are not binding.

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike has requested citizens in the capital to stay indoors, while her counterpart in Osaka, told reporters on Monday he thought the national government should declare a state of emergency, according to local media.

A director of the country’s top organisation of doctors has said the government should declare a state of emergency before it’s too late. — Reuters