The country reported 4,527 new cases and 51 deaths on Tuesday, bringing the national total to nearly 300,000, with a death toll of 4,158. More than 61,500 patients are in hospitals across the country, struggling to deal with an increase in cases caused in part by icy winter temperatures.
Tokyo, formerly one of the worst-hit areas, reported 970 new cases on Tuesday, the first time the Japanese capital’s daily score has fallen below 1,000 in more than a week. The total number of confirmed cases in Tokyo now stands at 77,133.
The new announcement extends the order to Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Aichi, Gifu, Tochigi and Fukuoka, which cover much of Japan’s mainland Honshu. Eleven prefectures in total are now under emergency measures.
The state of emergency commands companies to encourage their staff to work from home and reduce office populations by 70%. Residents of the affected areas are also urged to avoid non-essential excursions, and restaurants must stop serving alcohol at 19:00 and at 20:00.
Sports and entertainment events in Japan are also requested to limit the number of participants.
Suga called for the public to cooperate after announcing the expanded measures on Wednesday.
“I hope that people will understand that it is an indispensable measure to improve this difficult situation. We will do everything we have to do. I apologize for the inconvenience you have caused with many limitations, but we must it’s over, “he told a news conference.
“I would like to ask for the cooperation of the people.”
However, unlike a number of other countries that have introduced closure measures and social distance measures, Japan lacks legal powers to enforce compliance with government orders. The country is also struggling with coronavirus fatigue, which has been hit among the earliest by the pandemic and mixed messages in recent months.
Following the Tokyo emergency order, Satoshi Kamayachi, a physician and member of the government’s expert advisory board, told CNN subsidiary TV Asahi that “it was not enough time to combat the spread of infection, we need to reduce human contact more . “
Japanese officials are believed to be cautious about imposing a complete exclusion or other tougher emergency measures for fear they will hurt the economy. The country is also once again facing difficult decisions around the Olympics, which were to take place last summer but were eventually postponed as the pandemic spread around the world.
According to the International Olympic Committee, the Tokyo Games will be held from July 23 to August 8, according to the International Olympic Committee, with a rounded-off opening and closing ceremony in line with an ‘overall simplification of the Games’.
Last week, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said it would postpone the upcoming exhibitions of the Tokyo Olympics to reduce the flow of people and prevent the spread of Covid-19. The torch has been on display in several municipalities since November and will start again this week.
In a New Year’s speech this week to the staff of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, chairman Yoshiro Mori said that preparations would continue “as planned”, adding that “I think everything will be affected if I scratch my head or are indecisive.”
“We will emerge from this dark tunnel in cooperation with you. I would like you all to do your best to the end to give many people joy and hope in the belief that spring is coming after winter and the morning always coming after a long night, “Mori said. .
Former International Olympic Committee chief Dick Pound has told CNN that the Games are unlikely to be postponed again and that any further delay is likely to lead to their cancellation.
“The one-year postponement was a proposal from Japan. The organizing committee said ‘look, we can keep it together for another year, but no further’,” he said. “If you postpone it for another year, it will cost a huge price, which Japan may not be willing to go through. It will complicate an overcrowded sports schedule … you are going to the World Cup and football at the and at some point there is just too much congestion in the overall system. ‘
He rejected the suggestion that the Tokyo Olympics could be moved to 2024 and that all planned host cities took turns, as of people “without any idea what it (plan) means in real life.”
CNN’s James Griffiths reported from Hong Kong.