|
 Citing government sources, Kyodo News reported that preparations
were being made for a state of emergency that would take effect by
Friday and last about a month.
Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures, which have requested an
emergency declaration, asked residents to refrain from
non-essential, non-urgent outings after 8 p.m. from Friday until at
least the end of the month, and said eateries must close by that
time.
Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, in charge of coronavirus
countermeasures, said the government would make a decision on an
emergency "as soon as possible" after listening to experts.
Japan registered a record 4,520 new cases on Dec. 31, about half in
and around Tokyo, but Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has resisted
demands for tougher action.
Asked to explain the potential change of heart, he told a news
conference: "Even during the three days of the New Year's holidays,
cases didn't go down in the greater Tokyo area ... We felt that a
stronger message was needed."
Suga did not say when the government would decide, or what
restrictions would follow. A state of emergency last spring lasted
more than a month, shutting down schools and non-essential
businesses.
"WHAT'S GOING ON?"
In the absence of specifics, hundreds of thousands of Twitter posts
expressed dismay and confusion.
"This morning, the news said it's 200 days till the Olympics, and in
the afternoon, that there could be another state of emergency.
What's going on?" tweeted user Mii Mama.
Since the start of the pandemic, Japan has recorded more than
245,000 cases and about 3,600 deaths.
[to top of second column] |
 Although the figures pale in
comparison to those of many parts of Europe and
the Americas, Suga has the challenge of hosting
the Olympics in Tokyo this summer after the
pandemic caused the Games' first-ever delay in
2020.
Still, Suga repeated a pledge to continue
preparations for the Games said a vaccination
programme should begin by the end of February.
Japan has until now relied mostly on voluntary
closings rather than the rigid lockdowns seen
elsewhere, but Suga said a bill would be
submitted to parliament to give
state-of-emergency restrictions more teeth,
including penalties.
He said many new cases with unknown origins were
likely to be linked to restaurants, and that
cutting their hours should help.
Later he said on television news that the
government would consider raising the maximum
compensation for businesses that agree to
shorter hours from the current 20,000 yen ($195)
a day.
Toshihiro Nagahama, an economist at Dai-ichi
Life Research Institute, estimated that a
one-month suspension of non-urgent consumer
spending in greater Tokyo would slash gross
domestic product by 2.8 trillion yen ($27
billion), or an annualised 0.5%, costing around
147,000 jobs.
($1 = 102.9800 yen)
(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Tetsushi Kajimoto,
Elaine Lies, Daniel Leussink, Kiyoshi Takenaka
and Izumi Nakagawa; Writing by Chang-Ran Kim;
Editing by Gerry Doyle and Kevin Liffey
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