A recent rise in COVID-19 cases could see major parts of Japan once again in a state of emergency with Tokyo and Osaka authorities contemplating renovated sidewalks to stop the spread.
The new wave of infections complicates preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, which will begin in July, already postponed due to last year’s global coronavirus outbreak.
Japan has this month put Osaka, Tokyo and eight other prefectures in “near-emergency states” designed to control the spread of COVID-19 with shorter business hours for restaurants and bars and stronger calls for telework.
But those measures have done little to reverse the trend so far, and Osaka recorded 1,220 record cases on Sunday, two weeks after those restrictions went into effect as a mutant strain fueled the spread.
“The fruits of these measures should appear now,” Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told reporters in comments posted online.
“Medical services are also in a dire state and we have decided that we need a state of emergency. We need stronger measures such as those to stop the movement of people,” he said, adding that Japan’s third most populous prefecture would make the formal request to the government on Tuesday.
In a TV Asahi poll released Monday, just over half of respondents said they believed the “almost emerging” restrictions were ineffective.
Tokyo is also considering a state of emergency request, Gov. Yuriko Koike told reporters in the press on Sunday, one step back as Japan struggles to control the pandemic ahead of the Summer Olympics.
“Taking preventative measures is crucial right now,” Koike said. Tokyo reported 543 new cases on Sunday, the 18th consecutive day of seven-day increments.
Asked about possible requests from Osaka and Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, the government’s top spokesman, said such calls should be considered “quickly”.
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