As the number of coronavirus cases have continued to surge in Japan, Prime Minster Shinzo Abe has decided to expand the state of emergency from just seven of the country’s 47 prefectures, to the whole nation.
According to the health ministry, COVID-19 cases in Japan increased by 188 nationwide in 24 hours, including 149 new infections in Tokyo that brought the national tally to 8,910.
The death toll now stands at 194, including those from a cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama near Tokyo, the latest figures showed.
In Tokyo, five infected men died, including four inpatients at Eiju General Hospital in Taito Ward. Three people died in Ishikawa Prefecture and two each died in Hokkaido, Gunma, Saitama and Fukuoka prefectures. Chiba, Fukui and Osaka prefectures also recorded one death each.
Kanagawa prefecture, meanwhile, has recorded 622 infections, Chiba 537 cases, Saitama P513 infections, Hyogo 443 cases and Fukuoka 436 cases, according to the latest figures.
The declaration hands regional governors the power to ask residents to stay inside, seek the closure of businesses that attract large crowds and commandeer land and buildings for medical purposes.
Earlier, Japan banned entry to foreigners from 73 countries and asked everyone arriving from abroad to quarantine themselves for two weeks as it struggles to contain the coronavirus.
On April 7, Japan declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus crisis for just seven of the nation’s 47 prefectures.
A nationwide state of emergency being issued would ensure that prefectural governors, across-the board, would be better enabled to authorize measures against the pandemic.
Worldwide confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed 2 million though experts caution that the virus has in all likelihood infected far more people.