PM Kishida mulls quasi-emergency concerning Covid-19 in 3 prefectures
Kanako Mita and Sawako Utsumi
Modern Tokyo Times
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is mulling a quasi-emergency concerning the coronavirus (Covid-19) in three prefectures. Other prefectures are likely to follow if current daily coronavirus infections keep on increasing.
The three prefectures of immediate concern are Hiroshima, Okinawa, and Yamaguchi. Okinawa is of special concern because the numbers are growing quickly. All three prefectures are pointing the finger at American military bases for the latest flare-up of daily infections.
The Omicron coronavirus variant is highly transmissible. Hence, many nations have witnessed a rapid rise in daily infections. Therefore, a quasi-emergency – or future State of Emergency – seems most likely given past policies in Japan.
NHK reports, “The Okinawa governor will ask the central government to approve quasi-emergency measures. This would allow officials to impose targeted rules before the medical system reaches a state of crisis.”
The Mayor of Iwakuni City in Yamaguchi blames the lack of safety measures by a US military base for the latest bout of daily infections. Similar blame is being stated in Hiroshima and Okinawa.
Reuters reports, “Earlier, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi asked U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken for restrictions on U.S. service members from leaving their bases, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.”
Kishida said, “I’ve instructed the foreign minister to take advantage of the two-plus-two meeting and to firmly ask the U.S. side to take strict (anti-infection) measures swiftly.”
Past major outbreaks have occurred because of a plethora of factors. From the highest coronavirus surge during the Olympic timeframe last year to nightlife in major cities. Therefore, any weakness in the system quickly spreads throughout the wider society.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220106_18/
https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/ – Tokyo Metropolitan Government website for updates about the coronavirus crisis in Tokyo.
https://toyokeizai.net/sp/visual/tko/covid19/en.html – Japan and Tokyo Covid-19 news with more analysis
https://covid19japan.com/ – Japan regional coronavirus statistics
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ World coronavirus statistics
PLEASE DONATE TO HELP MODERN TOKYO TIMES
Modern Tokyo News is part of the Modern Tokyo Times group
DONATIONS to SUPPORT MODERN TOKYO TIMES – please pay PayPal and DONATE to sawakoart@gmail.com
http://moderntokyotimes.com Modern Tokyo Times – International News and Japan News
http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi personal website and Modern Tokyo Times artist
https://moderntokyonews.com Modern Tokyo News – Tokyo News and International News
PLEASE JOIN ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/MTT_News Modern Tokyo Times
PLEASE JOIN ON FACEBOOK