TOKYO (AP) – Japan expanded the coronavirus state of emergency to seven more prefectures on Wednesday, affecting more than half the population amid an outbreak of infections across the country.
Prime Minister Yoshide Suga also said that Japan would suspend the exceptions for quick entry for business visitors or others with residence permits, totally banning foreign visitors while the state of emergency is in place.
Suga’s announcement comes less than a week after he declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and three nearby prefectures. The new declaration, which adds seven other prefectures in western and central Japan, goes into effect Thursday and runs until February 7.
“The serious situation continues, but these measures are indispensable to turn the tide for the better,” Suga said at a news conference, bowing as he sought public understanding.
He said he placed the seven city halls in urban areas under a state of emergency to prevent infections from spreading to smaller cities, where medical systems are most vulnerable.
The government is asking bars and restaurants in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Fukuoka, Aichi, Gifu and Tochigi prefectures to close at 8 pm. Employers must have 70% of their employees working from home and residents in affected areas avoid leaving home for non-essential purposes.
Suga was criticized for taking too long to act, as coronavirus infections and deaths reported in the country nearly doubled last month to about 300,000 and 4,100, respectively. Both states of emergency were declared only after local leaders pleaded with him to do so.
Experts have warned that even emergency declarations, which are non-binding and largely dependent on voluntary cooperation, may be insufficient to significantly reduce infections.
Unlike a previous seven-week emergency that Japan had in April and May last year, schools, gyms, theaters and stores will remain open.
Suga faced criticism for not taking government measures strong enough at the start of the outbreak. He limited his interventions mainly to asking the public to take basic safety measures, such as wearing masks, washing hands and avoiding drinking and eating in groups until mid-December, when he finally announced the suspension of a government-subsidized domestic tourism campaign.
Suga ended up acting after calls from local leaders, while his support ratings plummeted in polls that showed the public increasingly dissatisfied with the way he deals with the virus. He was also criticized for attending an expensive meat dinner that had eight participants in mid-December.
Suga took office in mid-September and promised to keep infections under control and, at the same time, put the economy back on track. He also promised to successfully host the Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed from last year until next summer.
Despite the current outbreak of infections, Japan has reported far fewer infections than many countries of its size.
Japan has overcome previous outbreaks of infections without a blockade, but experts and officials warn that people are getting tired and becoming less cooperative than before.
In an attempt to enforce measures against the virus more effectively, Suga said he will seek a legal review in parliament next week to allow authorities to penalize business owners who challenge official requests for measures against the coronavirus, while legally provides compensation to those who comply. Suga’s government also plans to revise the infectious disease control law so that it can penalize patients who defy the requirements of self-isolation, hospitalization or cooperation with health officials, Japanese media say.
Japanese Medical Association President Toshio Nakagawa told a news conference on Wednesday that the country’s medical systems are collapsing, with regular daily treatment in many hospitals compromised due to the growing burden of coronavirus patients.
“I fear that the fear of explosive infections, as in the United States and Europe, could become a reality,” he said, urging people to cooperate and regain their sense of crisis and urgency.
Japan is already facing a possible collapse of the medical system because treatment with coronavirus is largely concentrated in public hospitals in a country where most hospitals are run by private individuals and are not equipped for infectious diseases. Suga said the situation should be reviewed.
The government has provided financial support for hospitals that admit patients with coronavirus, while fighting to secure more beds as infections increase.
Tokyo officials, facing a hospital bed crisis for the treatment of coronavirus, are considering turning three city-run hospitals into COVID-19 patient centers.
Japanese coronavirus measures have relied heavily on widespread use of masks, contact tracking and other security measures. But the number of new cases in the current outbreak has made it impossible to trace contacts, prompting Tokyo and neighboring city governments to announce a cut in the strategy to ease the burden on local public health officials.
The experts also raised concerns about the cases of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus that spread across Britain. About 30 cases of the new variant have been detected since late December. Another variant was also detected in four people who arrived from Brazil this week.
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