TOKYO (AP) – Japan announced on Friday that it will increase the alert level for coronavirus in Tokyo to allow stricter measures to limit the rapid spread of a more contagious variant ahead of the Summer Olympics.
Japan’s national vaccination rate has lagged behind and most people in the capital are still not vaccinated because infections have increased.
The increased status announced by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will enable the Tokyo governor to set shorter opening hours for pubs and restaurants, along with penalties for offenders and compensation for those who comply. The measures are due to start on Monday and continue until 11 May.
Many of Tokyo’s businesses have been linked to nightlife and dining out, though it has recently spread to offices, aged care institutions and schools, experts say.
Suga has also raised the alert level for Kyoto in western Japan and the southern island of Okinawa Prefecture, where business has increased over the past few weeks. The new status there should continue until May 5, the end of Japan’s ‘Golden Week’ holiday, to discourage travel.
“We will do everything possible to prevent infections in the affected areas and prevent them from spreading across the country,” Suga told reporters.
Under the measures, people are urged to avoid non-important travel outside their cities. Health officials will patrol bars and restaurants to ensure safety measures are adhered to, and that tests are stepped up at aged care facilities, Suga said.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike asked residents to avoid unimportant travel and practice social distance. She asked pubs and restaurants in many parts of the prefecture to close at 8 p.m.
“To protect the medical systems in Tokyo, we need to work much harder to further reduce the movement of people,” Koike said. “We have to fight the infections so that we do not have another boom during the Olympics.”
“We have to endure this difficult time until vaccines are widely available,” she added.
The warning status was also raised on Monday for parts of three other prefectures – Osaka, neighboring Hyogo and Miyagi in the north. Since the beginning of March, daily affairs have increased sharply, shortly after Japan scaled down a partial and non-binding state of emergency that began in January.
With the addition of Friday, 15 cities in the six prefectures, including downtown Tokyo, have been designated for heightened virus measures.
The move comes less than three weeks after the state of emergency for Tokyo was lifted, highlighting the difficulty of balancing antivirus measures and the economy. Suga’s government has been criticized for being too slow to implement antivirus measures out of a reluctance to further damage the pandemic economy.
The new alert status has binding orders, but only for businesses to close early while measures for residents are requests only, and some experts are skeptical about the effect.
Dr Shigeru Omi, head of a panel of government experts, said many people were tired of restrictions and that they had become less cooperative in responding to requests despite the proliferation of the new variant.
“I think requests for cooperation can no longer effectively reduce infections,” Omi said. He added that medical systems would collapse unless Japan could prevent a major revival by June when seniors have to complete their vaccinations. “We’re in a very difficult time.”
Osaka announced a medical emergency after its hospitals were overwhelmed by new cases, and the Olympic torch relay moved there from public roads next week.
Just over 1 million people in Japan, or less than 1% of the population, received the first of two doses, and the increase in cases could cause further cancellations of the Olympic events.
Vaccinations began in mid-February for medical workers. Elderly people plan to take their shots next week until the end of June. The rest of the population will probably have to wait until about July, making it almost impossible for Japan to achieve so-called herd immunity before the Tokyo Olympics start on July 23.