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TOKYO – Japan lifted its state of emergency in 39 of its 47 prefectures on Thursday (May 14) before the expected expiration on May 31, after a sharp drop in new Covid-19 cases across the country.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a press conference that the emergency decree, first made on April 7, could be lifted in the remaining eight regions as soon as next Thursday after another review by the expert panel.
These eight are Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, and Hokkaido. They are home to some 59 million people, or 46.8 percent of the population of 126 million Japanese.
Thursday’s move comes as the number of new cases dropped from a maximum of 700 to about 100 per day. There were 99 new cases at 8 p.m. last night, including 32 in Kanagawa and 30 in Tokyo, with a total of 16,202 cases, with 712 deaths.
However, Abe warned people not to let their guard down and said they will declare another state of emergency if Japan finds an increase in cases.
“The scariest scenario is if we immediately go back to how things were before, leading to a rapid increase in the number of infections,” he said, citing a resurgence of infections in Singapore and South Korea as lessons for Japan.
Abe added: “The guidelines cannot reduce the risk to zero, and even after raising the emergency declaration, I want everyone to understand that they live with the virus and to take steps to control the risk of becoming infected while trying to get back in time. of everyday life. “
In doing so, he urged everyone to adopt a “new lifestyle” by easing their path to normality. Among other things, unnecessary human contact and travel outside the prefecture’s borders are still discouraged.
He also called on companies to take advantage of the momentum of positive change that has taken hold in the pandemic, including teleworking and staggered working hours that have led to empty trains at peak hours.
“We need to contain the spread of the virus, but this is an immense challenge for which everyone must act and cooperate,” he said. “It will take a lot of trial and error: no one in the world has a solution and it is going to be a long way to go.”
Abe promised to provide more firepower to boost an economy that is at risk of recession by compiling a second emergency package for next month.
This is above the record stimulus of 117.1 trillion yen (S $ 1.6 trillion) which included, among other things, cash payments of 100,000 yen to each resident in Japan and up to 2 million yen for small and medium Business.
The new package will include payments of 100,000 yen to students whose part-time earnings have decreased and 200,000 yen to students in low-income households.
Japan’s battle against Covid-19, with its cluster-based approach, has left experts around the world stumped on the effectiveness of the strategy. Critics argue that, on the one hand, it has not conducted enough tests to obtain a proper understanding of how widespread the coronavirus is.
But others argue that the low death toll is enough proof that the strategy has worked, while virus containment has been aided by long-established customs of wearing masks and bowing instead of handshakes.
“I wouldn’t say that Japan’s path has been perfect, but to be fair, the death rate and reduction in new cases are obvious results of both political initiatives and social norms,” said Dr. Kazuto Suzuki, professor of public policy in Hokkaido. College.
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