With Japan on brink of COVID-19 emergency, Tokyo might keep schools closed till May
01 April, 2020
Japan remains on the brink of circumstances of emergency as the rate of new COVID-19 cases accelerates in the united states, its top government spokesman said on Wednesday (Apr 1), amid reports the administrative centre may order public schools to stay closed for another month.
Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that controlling the virus that has raced across the world was a high priority.
While Japan's tally - around 2,200 cases and 66 deaths - are dwarfed by numbers from the United States, Europe and China, new infections continue steadily to set fresh daily records.
Suga said the government would do "whatever is necessary" to minimise the impact of the virus, including its influence on the world's third-biggest economy.
Japan is already teetering on the verge of recession; a Bank of Japan poll showed the mood of the country's professional manufacturers at its most pessimistic for seven years.
As new virus infections in the administrative centre rose to a daily record of 78 on Tuesday - for a complete greater than 500 - calls are mounting for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare a state of emergency that would allow authorities to trigger a lockdown.
Restrictions on movement mandated under such a lockdown would be voluntary instead of legally binding.
Abe is defined to chair a meeting of his coronavirus task force on Wednesday evening.
Japan first closed public schools at Abe's request from Mar 2. The Tokyo metropolitan government had previously said it was likely to re-open at least some schools when the new academic year began in April, but public broadcaster NHK and other media said closures could now be extended until May.
Tokyo's education board could meet as soon as Wednesday to discuss the plan, the Nikkei business daily said.
Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike, who requested that city residents stay indoors last weekend and in addition has said persons should stay out of restaurants and bars during the night, told reporters on Wednesday she hoped a decision would be made promptly and repeated demands vigilance.
"Folks are saying, 'I didn't think I'd get infected myself'. I want everyone to share the awareness that one should both protect oneself while also avoiding spreading (the virus)," she said.
Japanese leaders have repeatedly said that as the country is on the brink of circumstances of emergency, it had been not yet at the stage of officially declaring one. This was reiterated on Wednesday by Suga, who said that "that is an exceptionally important period".
Demands a lockdown were increasing on social media, however, with many Twitter users expressing worry and comparing the problem overseas, where whole cities attended to a standstill while Tokyo's relatively business-as-usual stance persists.
"One of my friends, who works in Tokyo, continues to be commuting on packed trains," wrote a user beneath the Twitter handle Arikan. "I'm just a little embarrassed by how indecisive Japan is in comparison to other nations."
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
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