Takahashi Yamamoto Tokyo: Dhaka, Jul-30,
Japan is set to expand the coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo to neighboring areas and the western city of Osaka on Friday in the wake of a record surge in infections while the capital hosts the Olympics.
A government panel approved the plan putting
Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba, as well as Osaka, under the state of emergency
from Monday until Aug. 31. The measures already in place in Tokyo and the
southern island of Okinawa will be extended until the end of August.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is scheduled to
officially announce the measures later Friday. Five other areas, including
Hokkaido, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka, will be placed under less-stringent
emergency restrictions.
Tokyo has reported a record rise in cases for three
days in a row, including 3,865 on Thursday. The cases have doubled since last
week, and officials have warned they may hit 4,500 a day within two weeks.
Officials said 2,995 were hospitalized, about half
the current capacity of 6,000 beds, with some hospitals already full. More than
10,000 others were isolating at home or designated hotels, with nearly 5,600
waiting at home while health centers decide where they will be treated. Tokyo
is also setting up a facility for those requiring oxygen while waiting for
hospital beds.
At Friday’s meeting of government experts, Health
Minister Norihisa Tamura said the spike in Tokyo despite being under the state
of emergency for two weeks is an “alarming development that is different from
anything we have seen before.”
Nationwide, Japan reported 10,687 confirmed cases
Thursday, exceeding 10,000 for the first time. It has recorded 15,166 fatalities
from COVID-19, including 2,288 in Tokyo, since the pandemic began.
Japan has kept its cases and deaths lower than many
other countries, but its seven-day rolling average is growing and now stands at
28 per 100,000 people nationwide and 88 per 100,000 in Tokyo, according to the
Health Ministry. This compares to 18.5 in the United States, 48 in Britain and
2.8 in India, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The emergency measures focus on an alcohol ban at
eateries and karaoke bars and their shortened hours, but they have become less
effective because people are only requested to stay and work from home. Many
were defying the measures as they have become tired of restrictive life and
less cooperative even at a time when the more infectious delta strain is
spreading.
“We need to come up with measures that are
effective,” Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike told a regular news conference Friday,
without elaborating.
Noting that adults in their 30s or younger dominate
recent cases, Koike reminded them of following basic anti-virus measures
including mask-wearing and avoiding having parties, urging them to “share the
sense of crisis.”
As of Thursday, 27% of the Japanese population has
been fully vaccinated. The percentage of the elderly who are fully.
End/Dct/Tyt/Sma/
