Japan prolongs virus emergency as caseload rises
Japan’s coronavirus state of emergency will continue through Sept. 12 rather than finishing at the end of this month, the government announced Monday
With the virus continuing to spread, the state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa, and three other regions, which began in July, will be extended and expanded.
The measures were enforced throughout the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics, which took place with no spectators from the general public at many events. With the latest extension, the emergency will remain in force during the Tokyo Paralympics, which open Aug. 24 and close on Sept. 5.
“The surge in infections is reaching alarming record highs,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said after meeting with other ministers about the move.
The emergency measures center on asking eateries and bars to close at 8 p.m. and not serve alcohol. They will be expanded to several more prefectures including Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka, currently under a less severe cautionary “quasi-emergency.”
New cases are reaching record highs in many areas, hovering at about 5,000 on most days during the last week in Tokyo.
Local mayors and governors have prodded the national government to declare broader emergencies to send a stronger message to people to discourage them from going out.
Worries have been growing about the health care system increasingly becoming stretched thin. Japanese media reports have shown people stuck in ambulances for hours looking for a hospital that will accept them.
Nationally, only about a third of the population has been fully vaccinated as the more infectious delta variant spreads. Japan’s vaccine rollout got off to a late start and is proceeding at one of the slowest paces among industrialized nations.