Japan lifts the state of emergency in 39 out of 47 prefectures on decreasing Covid-19
Sawako Utsumi and Chika Mori
Modern Tokyo Times
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan announced the lifting of the state of emergency to the majority of the country. Hence, 39 out of 47 prefectures were lifted from the state of emergency based on infections coming down.
It should be stated that at no time was the majority of Japan overwhelmed by the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis. This can be seen by only 678 deaths in four months of the coronavirus entering Japan in the middle of January.
Abe uttered, “With the lifting of the state of emergency in many regions, today marks the real beginning of our efforts toward a new normal in the era of the coronavirus.”
The only areas now covered are connecting areas with Osaka and Tokyo – and the region of Hokkaido in northern Japan. Thus, Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Saitama remain under the state of emergency. Similarly, parts of the Kansai region will still be covered by the state of emergency in Kyoto, Osaka, and Hyogo. Hokkaido being the only area by itself in the north of the country,
In terms of population and major cities then it still represents a high number of people. For example, the cities of Kobe, Kyoto, Hokkaido, Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama are all populous.
Abe, from the fear of early to the middle of April, will feel vindicated. After all, in recent weeks the number of infections is coming down. Even in Tokyo, the hardest-hit area, the number of infections is constantly below 100.
Abe said, “We are embarking on an extremely difficult challenge, which is to keep preventing the spread of infection and moving toward fully resuming social and economic activity.”
Some internal media and international groups gave reports of the possibility of 400,000 deaths if measures were not taken. In truth, this figure was scaremongering to the extreme.
However, the hospital system needs upgrading during times of emergency. This time, Japan escaped the horrendous deaths of America, Brazil, and parts of Europe. Therefore, the number of ICU beds and essential equipment needs to be improved – and the same applies to other areas of weakness.
https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/ – Tokyo Metropolitan Government website for updates about the coronavirus crisis in Tokyo.
https://covid19japan.com/ – Japan regional coronavirus statistics
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ World coronavirus statistics
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