The declaration will give prefectural governors more power to take preventative measures to curb the continued spread of the virus, the cases of which have been steadily increasing, particularly in urban areas.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (Photo: IANS)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday declared a month-long state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures in an effort to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.
The declaration will come into effect on Wednesday, according to the media report.
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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.
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Japan will ban entry to foreigners from 73 countries and ask everyone arriving from abroad to quarantine themselves for two weeks as it struggles to contain the coronavirus.
On Sunday, PM Abe said, “We envision, for a period of about one month, that we will ask further cooperation of the Japanese people to reduce person-to-person contacts that lead to infections”.
Abe in late February called for a nationwide shutdown of schools, at a time when there were only a handful of cases and few other countries had taken such a measure.
Separately, Abe unveiled a stimulus package worth around 108 trillion yen that he said was worth 20 percent of GDP, “an unprecedented scale”. However, Naoya Oshikubo, senior economist at SuMi TRUST, said it would not ensure Japan avoids a recession in the first half of 2020 “but will kickstart a V-shaped recovery” in the second half.
The Japanese economy was tottering even before the coronavirus struck, with growing fears of a recession. The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics until July 2021 is also likely to take a chunk out of the country’s GDP although the losses should be recouped when the Games go ahead.
The recent development comes as Japan has recorded 3,906 coronavirus cases, with 92 deaths.
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