By Chang-Ran Kim and Kiyoshi Takenaka
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan declared a limited state of emergency in the capital, Tokyo, and three neighboring prefectures on Thursday to contain the spread of the coronavirus, resisting calls from some doctors for wider restrictions due to the economic damage it would cause.
The government said the month-long emergency would last from Friday to February 7 in the prefectures of Tokyo and Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba, covering about 30% of the country’s population. The restrictions would focus on combating transmission in bars and restaurants, which, according to the government, are the main risk areas.
The curbs are narrower than the taxes in April under an emergency that lasted until the end of May. At that time, the sidewalks were national and schools and non-essential businesses were almost all closed. This time, schools are not closing.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government is trying to limit the damage to the world’s third largest economy, while striving to defeat the virus once and for all, as it hopes to hold the postponed summer Olympics.
“The global pandemic has been tougher than we expected, but I am hopeful that we can overcome it,” Suga told a news conference.
“For that to happen, I must ask citizens to live with some restrictions”.
Some medical experts said they feared that the government’s plan for limited restrictions may not be sufficient.
“We may need to think about a state of emergency across the country,” said Toshio Nakagawa, president of the Medical Association of Japan, on Wednesday.
Suga said damage to the economy is inevitable, but his goal is to protect jobs and businesses with a 70 trillion yen ($ 670 billion) stimulus package, which is being implemented.
Japan, although less seriously affected by the pandemic than many other places, has been unable to control the virus in the same way as some countries in the region, with daily infections recorded in more than 7,000 for the first time on Thursday, the media reported. .
Tokyo, in particular, has been a constant concern with its positive test count jumping to 2,447 on Thursday, from a record 1,591 the day before.
In all, Japan saw 267,000 cases and nearly 3,900 deaths.
The authorities plan to start a vaccination campaign by the end of February.
HOUR LIMITS
Emergency measures include asking restaurants and bars to close until 8 pm and residents to avoid non-urgent strolls, more homework and limiting crowds in sports and other major events for 5,000 people.
Citizens expressed mixed reactions.
“I agree with that. Without an emergency declaration, people would not stop moving. It could be extended beyond February 7,” 20-year-old Kazuki Yamashige told Reuters.
Hiroaki Toyama, 60, who runs human resources businesses, said the statement “would take more restaurants and bars out of the market and increase the number of suicides. That would be a serious problem.”
The Tokyo metropolitan government previously said that the Olympic torch exhibitions in the capital were postponed.
The four city halls are home to around 150,000 restaurants and bars. Suga said limiting his hours helped reduce cases in regions like Osaka and Hokkaido.
But in a worrying sign, Osaka on Wednesday reported a record 560 new cases, while Hokkaido saw more than 100 cases for the first time in a week.
The prefectures of Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto were considering requesting a state of emergency, the media reported.
According to simulations by Kyoto University scientist Hiroshi Nishiura, infections in Tokyo could reach 3,500 a day in February and reach 7,000 in March without further measures.
Emergency measures can take at least two months to bring infections to manageable levels, he said.
In the meantime, food and beverage establishments are suffering.
Tokyo’s Teikoku Databank said this week that sector bankruptcies reached a high of 780 in 2020, above the previous record of 732. Suga said the government would increase compensation for the restaurant business to 1.8 million yen ($ 17,400) per month of 1.2 million yen.
Analysts say the new state of emergency would likely trigger an economic contraction in the first quarter – a reversal of the forecast for annualized expansion of 2.1% in a Reuters poll last month.
(This story corrects the toll in paragraph 12 for “almost 3,900”, not “almost 3,000”)
(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Kiyoshi Takenaka, Tetsushi Kajimoto, Leika Kihara, Elaine Lies, Daniel Leussink, Jack Tarrant and Akira Tomoshige; Writing by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell, Gerry Doyle, Robert Birsel and Philippa Fletcher)