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(CNN) – Japan may enter a state of emergency this week as the country grapples with rising coronavirus cases, several of which have been linked to a potentially more infectious new variant.
At a New Years press conference on Monday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said an emergency declaration was under consideration and would apply to Tokyo and the three neighboring prefectures of Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa. The governors of the four regions have urged Suga to do so now, as cases increase.
“If necessary, we will not hesitate to dispatch medical personnel from the Self-Defense Forces,” Suga added, saying the government will support medical facilities to ensure they are not overwhelmed.
Suga did not say when the government would make a decision or what restrictions could be enacted. Japan’s first state of emergency, declared last spring, relatively early in the pandemic, lasted more than a month and closed non-essential schools and businesses.
Japanese authorities are currently limited in their powers to punish those who violate the restrictions, even in a state of emergency, something that the Suga government reportedly plans to change to allow local governments to enforce compliance.
The prime minister, who took office last September following Shinzo Abe’s resignation, has seen his approval rating plummet in recent weeks, in part due to his handling of the pandemic.
On Sunday, Japan recorded 3,150 new cases and 51 deaths, bringing the national total to 244,559, with more than 3,612 deaths. The Greater Tokyo region has been among the worst hit, with 816 new cases on Sunday after last Thursday posting a new single-day record of 1,337.
Japan confirmed its first cases of the new, potentially more infectious variant of the UK coronavirus last week, prompting the government to ban all foreign travelers from entering the country.
Cases across the country have increased in recent weeks thanks in part to cold winter weather and fatigue from social distancing.
Japan was one of the first countries to be hit by the pandemic, but the government was able to keep cases at bay by enacting strict border controls, investing efforts in contact tracing and pressuring its citizens to practice social distancing. The efforts had been highly successful, and Japan was able to avoid the kind of strict blockades enacted in other parts of the world.
Japanese health officials have continually urged citizens to cut back on their daily activities, stay vigilant, and eat out only small amounts, but that no longer appears to be enough to stop the spread of the pandemic.
“Japan’s response is too slow and confusing, reflecting the lack of leadership and strategy. On the one hand, they encouraged domestic travel and eating out, on the other, they simply asked people to be careful,” said Kenji Shibuya , director of the Institute of Population Health at King’s College London. “Basically, the government asks people to behave voluntarily, but it doesn’t do more than that.”
Suga dismissed calls to declare a state of emergency in November, citing the advice of an advisory panel that hospitals were still relatively empty. However, Japan’s total case count has more than doubled since then.
Japanese officials are believed to be wary of introducing a blockade or other emergency measures for fear of damaging the economy. The country is also once again facing tough decisions around the Olympics, which were to be made last summer but were ultimately postponed as the pandemic spread across the world.
The Tokyo Games are scheduled to take place this summer from July 23 to August 8, according to the International Olympic Committee, with reduced opening and closing ceremonies in line with a “general simplification of the Games.”
Whether and how many foreign spectators can attend the Olympic Games will be decided in spring.
A successful Olympiad will likely depend on how quickly vaccination schedules can be implemented around the world, especially in Japan itself. Vaccination programs should not begin in Japan until the end of February, far behind other countries. At Monday’s press conference, Suga said front-line medical workers and the elderly would be the first groups to receive the vaccinations, adding that the government had advanced the schedule due to the latest outbreak.
However, Japanese authorities will also have to grapple with what is expected to be widespread antipathy towards the vaccine: Japan is “among the countries with the lowest confidence in vaccines in the world,” according to a recent study by The Lancet.
Suga has promised to “take the lead” on vaccination, saying on Monday that a successful Olympics would serve as “proof that humans have overcome the coronavirus.”
This story was first published on CNN.com, “Japan Prepared for State of Emergency as COVID-19 Cases Rise.”
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