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Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Japan will consider issuing a new emergency declaration after governors of the capital region urged action to address a record spike in Covid-19 cases, the control chief said on Saturday (02/01/2021). pandemics in the country.
Quoted by Reuters, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said the government needed to consult health experts before deciding on the new emergency declaration. Nishimura told reporters after meeting with Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and leaders from three neighboring prefectures.
“The central government and the three governors have the same opinion that the situation in the Tokyo area is getting worse, so it may be necessary to make an emergency declaration,” Nishimura was quoted as saying by Reuters on Sunday (03/01). / 2021).
As a temporary measure, he said, restaurants and karaoke rooms in the Tokyo area would be asked to close at 8 p.m., while businesses serving alcohol should close at 7 p.m.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has rejected calls to restore a state of national emergency, which the government imposed in April during the previous wave of the pandemic. Suga is scheduled to speak publicly on January 4.
Suga prefers this action depending on the voluntary closure of the business and travel restrictions rather than the type of lock action (emergency shutdown) stiffness observed in parts of Europe and the United States.
Tokyo raised its Covid-19 alert level to its highest level on December 17. New infections in the capital reached a record of 1,337 on December 31, and as of Saturday (02/01/2021) they totaled 814. The national record was also on December 31 with 4,520 new cases.
The increase in Covid-19 cases is exacerbating the seasonal increase in hospitalizations, said Fumie Sakamoto, Manager of Infection Control at St Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo.
“The Japanese government has not done much to control the infection,” Sakamoto said.
“I expect the number (of infections) to increase in the next few days, and an emergency declaration should arrive sooner, perhaps during December or November,” he said.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
(wia)
