Japan and the majority of prefectures covered by quasi Covid measures
Kanako Mita and Sawako Utsumi
Modern Tokyo Times
The quasi-State of Emergency in Japan concerning the coronavirus (Covid-19) will be expanded to cover the majority of prefectures on Thursday. Hence, 34 of 47 prefectures will be covered by the quasi-State of Emergency in Japan later this week with the possibility of further expansions.
The New Year period predictably witnessed the rapid spread of new coronavirus infections. Yet the Kishida administration – despite knowing that the Omicron variant is highly infectious – refused to implement genuine anti-Covid measures.
Events in France, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and others, which were hit hard in the early period of the spread of the Omicron variant, entailed that Japan understood the repercussions of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. However, knowing that the Omicron variant is extremely infectious but milder, it appears that the Kishida administration took the “wait and see approach” while shoring up the system internally. This concerns the increasing number of hospital beds, enhanced medicine that fights the coronavirus, bringing booster shots forward for the elderly, and so forth.
NHK reports, “Japan’s coronavirus panel has approved the government’s plan to expand areas where quasi-emergency measures are in place to stem the spread of the coronavirus and prevent a strain on healthcare.”
Modern Tokyo Times recently said, “Despite Japan being strict against foreign nationals seeking to re-enter Japan – irrespective of family ties or permanent residency status – restrictions internally are mild compared to other parts of the world. For example, images emanating from Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, and other nations are shocking people in Japan who witness these events.”
Quasi measures in Japan are extremely mild. It usually concerns the shortening of hours for eating establishments and drinking bars, non-alcoholic drinks after a set time, people being requested to refrain from cross prefectural trips when possible, and other mild policies.
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
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220125_18/
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