The Japanese government declared a state of emergency on Thursday over the coronavirus epidemic in Tokyo and the broader bloc after breaking another record of new infections diagnosed daily. Suzuja JoseheadThe Japanese prime minister said the measure will go into effect for a month – from Friday to February 7 – in Tokyo and three neighboring districts, Chiba, Kanagawa and Sitama, where a total of about 37 million people live, a third of the country’s total population, according to MTI.
Japan’s emergency restrictions are less stringent than the abbreviations imposed in a similar situation in European countries. In Japan, people are required to stay at home, not go to crowded places. We urge restaurants and bars to stop serving alcohol after 7 PM and close at 8 AM. Shopping malls and schools may remain open. The number of visitors to museums, cinemas and other events should be limited. Group events cannot be held for more than five thousand people.
On Thursday, the number of new coronavirus cases in one day rose to more than 7,000, of which 2,447 new infections were recorded in Tokyo.
A similar state of emergency was declared in Tokyo last April due to the epidemic, and later nationally.
According to many experts, Japanese authorities should have taken stricter anti-epidemic measures in the past, and the current restrictions will not be sufficient to curb the epidemic. Some warn that closing restaurants early in the evening, for example, could only lead to more daytime crowding.
Coronavirus vaccinations are not expected to start in Japan until February. In the first round, health care workers and workers in critical jobs will be vaccinated.
