Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency for the nation’s capital Tokyo and neighboring prefecture amid the new surge in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections.

Speaking before the press on Thursday (January 7), Prime Minister Suga said the declaration sends public warning amid rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 cases which is already hurting its economy.

Effective Friday (January 8), the state of emergency ends on February 7.

Test restrictions entails no punishment for violators but residents will simply be asked to avoid non-essential activities especially at night.

The Prime Minister appealed to the Japanese public especially to the young Japanese to help protect lives especially the most vulnerable particularly parents and grandparents.

He expects that situation will improve after one month.

As of this writing, Japan has a total of 269, 271 positive cases and 3,674 deaths as per latest global tally from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. 

Tokyo could declare a state of emergency if the coronavirus situation in the Japanese capital deteriorates further, its governor warned on Friday (July 31).

Yuriko Koike said Tokyo had confirmed 463 new cases on Friday – another single-day record – and implored residents to follow health guidelines to contain the spread of the virus.

“If the situation worsens, Tokyo would have to think about issuing its own state of emergency,” Koike told a news conference.

The Japanese government lifted the nationwide state of emergency in late May after Japan appeared to have contained the outbreak, touting its mask-wearing habits and health system as some of the factors that helped it fare better than Europe and the United States.

But the virus has made a worrying resurgence. The number of daily new cases in Japan hit a new record on Thursday (July 30), with infections spreading rapidly not only in Tokyo but also in other regions. (Reuters)

(Production: Akira Tomoshige, Hideto Sakai)

Japan has indicated that the current coronavirus situation in the country does not require a return of a state of emergency, according to the government’s top spokesman on Thursday (July 30).

Asked about the record number of cases from a day earlier exceeding 1,000 for the first time, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga repeated that the current situation did not warrant a state of emergency, which would restrict economic activity.

“On the other hand, there has been a rise in the number of cases, including among older people,” he told a news conference. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

According to public broadcaster NHK, Japan saw a record increase of 1,264 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday (July 29) alone.

The Nikkei business daily reported Thursday that Tokyo plans to urge shorter operating hours for restaurants and karaoke parlors in August to deal with the recent spike in infections. (Reuters)

(Production: Hideto Sakai)