State of emergency looms

Japan expected to impose curbs soon amid Covid-19 surge

ToKYo: Japan’s government is considering a state of emergency for Tokyo and Osaka as new Covid-19 case numbers surge, broadcaster NHK reported, a move that would enable prefectural authorities to impose curbs to try to stop infections spreading.

With thousands of new cases resulting from highly infectious strains of the virus, the government is expected to declare the state of emergency this week for the capital and Osaka prefecture, as well as the latter’s neighbouring Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures, a number of domestic media outlets reported yesterday.

If adopted in all four regions, the emergency measures would cover close to a quarter of Japan’s population of 126 million.

Japan has so far avoided the kind of explosive spread of the pandemic that has plagued many Western countries, with total cases so far at about 540,000 and a death toll of 9,707.

But the latest rise in infections has stoked alarm, coming just three months before the planned start of the Tokyo Olympics and amid a sluggish vaccination roll-out.

Tokyo reported 843 new infections yesterday, the most since Jan 29 when its previous state of emergency was in place.

Case numbers in Osaka have exceeded those in Tokyo in recent days, reaching a record 1,351 on April 13.

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike is preparing to request an emergency period be declared from April 29 to May 9, encompassing Japan’s annual “Golden Week” holiday period, the Mainichi newspaper reported.

Osaka, the epicentre of a fourth wave of the pandemic, requested a renewed state of emergency on Tuesday, looking to cancel or postpone all major events to restrict the movement of people.

Hyogo prefecture, home to the city of Kobe, reported a record 563 new Covid-19 cases yesterday and made its own state of emergency request official.

Quasi-emergency measures were already imposed in 10 of Japan’s 47 prefectures, including the Tokyo and Osaka areas.

The government of Kyoto prefecture in western Japan is also preparing to request an emergency declaration, the Jiji news service reported.

New declarations would mark the third full state of emergency in Japan since the epidemic began.

The total economic loss from a renewed emergency in the three regions would be ¥1.156 trillion (RM44bil), the Nomura Research Institute said in a report.