A buyer uses a hand sanitizer station at Ameya Yokocho Market in Ueno District, Tokyo, on December 30th.
Photographer: Noriko Hayashi / Bloomberg
Photographer: Noriko Hayashi / Bloomberg
Japan’s second state of emergency is expected to last a month, but public health experts have already expressed doubt that four weeks is enough time to slow down the coronavirus that is spreading at an alarming rate.
With residents increasingly facing virus fatigue and without any legal framework to enforce compliance, the country could struggle to quickly lower the trend of infections, experts say. Japan has reported new daily records of infections for at least two days last week, with an accelerated number in the Tokyo capital. On Friday, Tokyo reported 2,392 confirmed cases, the second highest to date after Thursday’s record.
“I’m not sure if the situation can improve in a month,” Hitoshi Oshitani, a professor of virology at Tohoku University and a member of the government’s advisory group, told Bloomberg News. “It’s definitely a lot harder to control the current situation compared to the outbreak in the summer.”
People dine at a restaurant at Ameya Yokocho Market in Tokyo on December 30th.
Photographer: Noriko Hayashi / Bloomberg
This time, Japan has promoted a more limited emergency, primarily aimed at shortening restaurant hours and encouraging remote work. Movie theaters, gyms, karaoke rooms and theme parks, all closed during the emergency last spring, will be open during reduced hours, while large events with reduced capacity will be held.
Although the measures currently apply only to the capital of Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures, Osaka regional authorities will also call on the government to extend the emergency to include what is the second largest metropolitan area in Tokyo. country. Osaka’s neighboring prefectures will have to follow suit, limiting activity in the country’s largest economy.
Emerging regions will have to get out of “Phase 4,” the government’s highest designation for the pandemic, for status elimination. The stages analyze factors such as medical capacity, number of patients, test positivity rate, and weekly increase in new infections. Experts will continuously examine the data to determine which areas meet which stages, they said.
Emergency landing
Cases have risen in all four areas under Japan’s second state of emergency
Source: Tokyo Metropolitan Government; Governments of Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama Prefecture
Read more: What does Tokyo’s second state of emergency mean?
Shigeru Omi, the head of the group of experts who advised the government, who said earlier this week that it would be “almost impossible” for Japan to emerge from the emergency in a month, changed his tone when he reported the press along with Prime Minister Yoshihide Thursday Suga.
“It’s not very easy,” Omi said, “but I think it’s possible to reduce infections to a phase 3 level in a month, if everyone does their best.” Omi said people should follow the suggested measures to stay home and avoid eating and drinking at night, but it has been a difficult task to keep young people out of these places, where the virus has spread to the whole pandemic.
Upcoming legal changes, which will include the possibility of fining establishments that refuse closing Applications, as well as formalizing cooperation payments, would also be needed, he added. The government will try to amend the related legislation when the diet is resumed on January 18th.
Yoshihide Suga on January 7th.
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota / Bloomberg
The Japanese emergency enacted last spring began with a statement from seven prefectures. Later, this was extended across the country and extended in duration, before being lifted in stages towards the end of May.
Japan, which had won the first praise for its ability to contain the virus without strict blockages, saw challenges arise in its strategy of “living with the virus” as winter approached. Cases began to rise nationwide in November and have risen last week, especially in regions near Tokyo.
Shops closed in Tokyo’s Akihabara shopping district in early April.
Photographer: Soichiro Koriyama / Bloomberg
Tokyo failure
The country has struggled to achieve public cooperation in the same way as spring. Officials have been concerned that concern about the virus has waned, while many bars and restaurants, already pushed to the brink over the past year, may be reluctant to cooperate with closure requests.
The dire situation in Tokyo is probably due to the fact that it did not take stricter measures in early December, Oshitani said. Areas such as Osaka and Hokkaido requested that restaurants close at 9pm or close completely, as the month is a high season for drinking and eating, with social groups and workplaces celebrating traditional end-of-year festivities. ‘year.
“In December, Tokyo was unable to implement aggressive measures; this is probably why we are seeing the growing trend, especially in the Tokyo metropolitan area,” Oshitani said. “It was important to implement more aggressive measures in December because of the holiday season.”
Read more: The scientist who once saved Japan once fought a new wave of viruses
Although the Tokyo authorities asked people to avoid these celebrations, the effect was limited. Data from the working group on viruses showed that while traces of the Osaka and Hokkaido entertainment districts fell sharply after the closure requests, traffic increased in Tokyo.
Oshitani said he hoped that as January and February tend to be quiet social periods in Japan, people will heed calls to stay home and slow the spread of the virus.
“I think we can still control the situation,” he said. “It totally depends on the change in people’s behavior.”
– With the assistance of Gearoid Reidy
(Updates with Tokyo case numbers and Osaka emergency application.)