Nikkei: Japan will extend the state of emergency COVID-19 - News
Nikkei reported on Wednesday that the Japanese government plans to extend the national reach state of emergency due to the new coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19). The government will hold an expert meeting on Friday to discuss a proposal to urge the public to stay home for about another month. The state of emergency is currently expected to end on May 6th.
The proposal may extend the state of emergency until the end of May or June 7th. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe plans to finalize the details as soon as Monday. Public transport and essential shops, such as supermarkets, would remain open. Residents could still go to the hospital, buy what they needed and go for a walk.
Friday's meeting will discuss how the novel coronavirus is spreading, whether the public has reduced contact and changed its behavior and the state of the Japanese healthcare system. A government official told Nikkei: "It will be difficult for us to lift the state of emergency unless we can reduce new infections to 20-30 people."
The report noted that COVID-19 has not yet calmed down in Japan and that areas of Japan such as Tokyo are struggling to stem the spread of the disease. Nikkei stated that Japan had 13.944 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 435 deaths at 22:00. Wednesday.
NHK reported the Japanese government may not fully lift the state of emergency on May 6 on Sunday. Medical experts noted that the rate of new infections did not slow down than expected. Economic Revitalization Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi added that the government must decide whether or not to lift the state of emergency before May 6, to allow schools and businesses to prepare.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has asked that schools remain closed until at least May 8. May 6 marks the end of Japan's Golden Week holiday season in 2020, but May 7 and 8 fall on Thursdays and Fridays this year. Aichi and Ibaraki prefectures plan to keep secondary schools closed (and require elementary and secondary schools to do the same) until the end of May.
Abe declared a state of emergency in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka from April 7 to May 6. Takatoshi Nishiwaki, governor of Kyoto, asked the Japanese government on April 10 to add Kyoto to a state of emergency. Governor Aichi Hideaki Ōmura similarly asked the Japanese government on April 16 to add his prefecture to the list, and then independently declared a state of emergency on April 17. Hokkaido had lifted its three-week state of emergency on March 19, only to declare a second state of emergency on April 12.
Abe announced on April 16 that the national government will extend the state of emergency across the country until May 6. As required by the recently enacted law that allowed this claim, Abe met with the government's COVID-19 expert group before formally announcing the expansion. .
source: Nikkei
