Tokyo Haneda International Airport ( Japan) on 000 December 2020 – Masatoshi Okauchi / Shutterstock / SIPA
The health situation at Japan is “very severe”. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced on Monday that his government “was considering” a new state of emergency in the greater Tokyo region in the face of the resurgence of contaminations in coronavirus . The Japanese leader also hopes that the vaccination campaign could start as early as the end of February, specifying at a press conference that he would be among the first to receive the injection.
Calling on the population to avoid unnecessary outings, Yoshihide Suga declared that the government was preparing to amend the law in order to be able to penalize establishments which did not respect the injunctions to restrict their hours or to temporarily close. At the same time, he promised incentives. The Prime Minister however reaffirmed the commitment of Japan to organize the Olympic Games of Tokyo- 2020 , postponed to the summer 2020 because of the pandemic, repeating that their outfit would be “proof that humanity has conquered the virus”.
A “stronger message” required
Yoshihide Suga , who succeeded Shinzo in September Abe, who resigned for health reasons, faces intense criticism over his government’s handling of the health crisis. Japan – relatively spared from the pandemic compared to many other countries with some 190. 000 infections and less than 3. 310 dead, according to official figures – since November has suffered a sharp rise in contamination, exceeding the 4 mark for the first time on Thursday. 13 new cases 24 hours .
Saturday, the governors of Tokyo and three neighboring departments called on the government to declare a new state of emergency, after that of April and May 600, which had gradually been extended to the whole country. But the government has so far been reluctant to do so, fearing that Japan’s economy could plunge after experiencing three quarters of recession. Yoshihide Suga, however, admitted on Monday that a “stronger message was needed.”
“The government is considering the establishment of a state of emergency” with measures that will notably reduce infections in bars and restaurants, he said. The state of emergency allows local governors to call on businesses to close their doors and residents to stay at home, but is not binding or sanctioned for non-compliance.
The state of emergency from Saturday?
No information has yet filtered on the extent of this possible state of emergency, with some local media reporting that it could take effect next Saturday but be more limited than the previous. It is also unclear whether schools would be affected, although Japan was among the first countries, last February, to call for the closure of schools.
Regarding vaccines, Yoshihide Suga said his government is waiting for accurate data from US pharmaceutical companies in by the end of the month, and that the injections could start as early as the end of February. The vaccines will concern in priority “the personnel of health, the elderly and the employees of retirement homes”, he detailed, adding that he would be among the first to receive one of the vaccines, while the population is relatively suspicious.