Japan extends COVID emergency lockdown
Print Edition
Japan yesterday extended its state of emergency in Tokyo and other regions and announced new measures covering seven more prefectures to counter a spike in COVID-19 cases threatening the medical system.
The current state of emergency, the fifth of the pandemic so far, was due to expire on August 31 but will now last until September 12. Tokyo announced 4,377 new cases yestreday, after a record 5,773 on Friday.
鈥淭he Delta variant raging across the world is causing unprecedented cases in our country,鈥 Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said. 鈥淪erious cases are increasing rapidly and severely burdening the medical system, particularly in the capital region.鈥
The state of emergency will now cover nearly 60 percent of Japan鈥檚 population, as the prefectures of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka are included. Less strict 鈥渜uasi-emergency鈥 measures will be applied to a further 10 prefectures.
Restaurants will be asked to close early and stop serving alcohol in exchange for a subsidy. Suga said the government would also request occupancy limits at department stores and ask people to reduce by half the times they go to crowded areas.
Japanese shares fell for a fourth day yesterday as concerns about the fast-spreading Delta variant overshadowed optimism about upbeat earnings.
Japan鈥檚 fatality rate stands at about 1.3 percent, compared with 1.7 percent in the United States and 2.1 percent in Britain.
But health experts fear deaths could spike in Japan as the Delta variant rages through the younger population and hospitals become too crowded to treat serious cases.
鈥淢any experts expressed an extremely strong sense of crisis about the medical care situation and the status of infections,鈥 Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said after consulting with health advisers.
Over 80 percent of Tokyo鈥檚 critical care beds are occupied.
Serious cases climbed to records of 276 in Tokyo and 1,646 nationwide yesterday.
Dai-ichi Life Research Institute estimated the government鈥檚 extended and expanded state of emergency would lead to a total economic loss of about 1.2 trillion yen (US$11 trillion).
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