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 The government empowered authorities in Tokyo and 12 other
prefectures to implement curbs on mobility and business activity -
measures that, with three prefectures already under such devolved
restrictions, now cover half of Japan's population.
The highly infectious Omicron variant has driven the current wave of
cases, and nationwide infections hit an all-time high of around
46,000 on Thursday.
Japan has declared various levels of emergency multiple times during
the two-year pandemic, also including orders for shortened operating
hours in bars and restaurants and the banning of alcohol sales.
But studies of cell phone traffic, train usage and other mobility
data suggest levels of compliance by the public have steadily
decreased.
"I think it is not a big deal, this Omicron," 73-year-old retiree
Norio Oikawa told Reuters. "The number of deaths is very low. I
think it's like a common cold, or influenza."
While Omicron is much more infectious than previous variants it
appears to cause less serious illness. But public health experts
still worry that a wave of such cases could still overwhelm the
healthcare system.
Japan has fully vaccinated almost 80% of its population, but an
increasing number of them are vulnerable to breakthrough infections
as they got their shots more than six months ago. A booster
programme that would help immunise them against the fast-moving
variant has reached less than 2%.
'VERY SLOW' CABINET RESPONSE
The new curbs may have some impact on a public that has adapted to a
"new normal" of behaviour over the past two years, said Haruka
Sakamoto, a physician and public health researcher at Keio
University in Tokyo.
But promoting booster shots, building up testing capacity and
protecting essential workers are more critical. "The response in
these areas by the Cabinet seems to be very slow," she added.
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 One doctor told Reuters there
appeared to be delays in imports of vaccines for
boosters, as Japan depends on overseas
drugmakers for almost all of its supplies.
Another pointed to a decision to shut down mass
vaccination centres after the main inoculation push last year, and
the health ministry's initial insistence on an eight-month gap
between first-phase inoculations and booster shots.
Makoto Shimoaraiso, a Cabinet official guiding Japan's pandemic
response, said that delays in regulatory approvals and reopening of
inoculation sites had hampered the vaccine rollout.
Japan's initial inoculation push started off slowly before reaching
up to 1.7 million shots a day last year, and with boosters, "we can
also see the same rapid increase," he added.
And compared to previous emergency measure declarations, the
government is encouraging the avoidance of certain risky behaviours,
such as talking loudly in enclosed areas, rather than a wholesale
reduction in activities, he said.
The country has recorded just over 2 million coronavirus cases and
18,461 deaths during the pandemic.
Tokyo's occupancy rate of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients, rose
to 31.5% on Friday. An increase to 50% would warrant escalation to a
full state of emergency, officials have said.
New infections in the capital jumped to a record of 9,699, and are
projected to exceed 10,000 a day by month's end.
"When you look at the infection situation, the quasi-state of
emergency is inevitable," said office worker Masayuki Fujii, 49.
"However, we have to get the economy going."
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; editing by John Stonestreet)
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