Emergency again after 9 months since last April
For at least one month from the 8th to the 7th of the following month
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An emergency has been declared again in the Japanese metropolitan area, where the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) is exploding.
The Japanese government held a meeting of the Corona 19 Countermeasure Headquarters presided by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on the afternoon of the 7th, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, etc. It was decided to issue an emergency situation in the 1st province and the 3rd county. The period of issuance was set for one month from the 8th to the 7th of the following month.
In the Tokyo area, there were nearly 2,500 new confirmed cases on the 7th, breaking the record for two consecutive days following the previous day (1,591). Even across Japan, the number of new confirmed cases exceeded the 6,000 line for the first time on the previous day, and the number of accumulated confirmed cases exceeded 260,000. If the current trend of infection is not braked, the time limit for applying the emergency situation, which is scheduled to be one month only in the metropolitan area, is expected to be extended and the target area is expected to be expanded.
It is the second time since the first confirmed cases in January of last year that an emergency related to Corona 19 has been declared in Japan based on the Act on Special Measures for Countermeasures such as New Influenza. The Japanese government first declared an emergency related to Corona 19 in seven metropolitan areas such as Tokyo and Osaka on April 7, when former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office, and then expanded it to the whole country on May 25. All turned off.
Residents in areas where an emergency has been issued should refrain from going out in the form of receiving requests and instructions from the head of a regional organization. In addition, business hours such as restaurants will be shortened. The Japanese government requested residents to refrain from going out after 8 pm through the’Corona 19 Basic Countermeasure Policy’, which has been reorganized in line with this emergency declaration, and companies work from home with the goal of’reducing the number of attendees by 70%’. We ordered to promote telework and rotational work. For restaurants, etc., the business hours were shortened to 8 p.m. (7 p.m. for liquor provision). Businesses that respond to this will receive up to 60,000 yen a day in compensation (cooperation fund).
However, unlike when the first emergency was issued, which requested a close of business in a wide range of industries, this time, focusing on preventing the spread of infection through restaurants, it decided not to require school closures for elementary, middle, and high schools. A series of college entrance examination schedules, such as a common test (exam) for college entrance examinations, which are held on the 16th to 17th, will be digested as usual. For large-scale events such as sporting events, it was decided to manage the number of attendees in the line of reducing the number of attendees to 50% of the capacity or less than 5,000, assuming that infection prevention measures are thoroughly prepared without requesting cancellation or postponement.
The Japanese government, however, stipulated in its basic countermeasures that the prevention of the spread of infection was a top priority by revising the existing policy that sought to maintain economic activity and prevent infection. For the time being, it has declared its will to focus its policy capabilities on responding to Corona 19 rather than saving the economy. The specific countermeasures prepared by the Japanese government in accordance with the declaration of this emergency are being evaluated as being loose compared to the first time, and the issue area is limited to the metropolitan area only, so as to whether it will have the effect of suppressing the spread of Corona 19 throughout Japan Skeptical observations are emerging.
/ Reporter Kwak Yoon-ah [email protected]
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