Coronavir emergency declared in Japan

In Japan, the state of emergency declared by the coronavir virus, including restrictions on nightlife in Tokyo and other parts of Japan, will be lifted this week, Japanese Prime Minister Josihide Suga said on Tuesday.

The emergency measures, which largely restrict alcohol sales, restaurant opening hours and the number of visitors to large events, were in place for most of the year, including during the Tokyo Olympics.

The state of emergency expires at the end of September, and Suga announced that it would not be extended as the epidemiological situation in the country improves.

“Thanks to all the hard work, the number of new infections a day, which exceeded 25,000 in mid-August, dropped to 1,128 yesterday,” Suga said during a ministerial meeting.

“Hospital bed occupancy has fallen below 50% in all regions. The number of seriously ill people peaked in early September and continues to decline,” he added.

The current state of emergency affects 19 regions, including Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi, Kyoto and Okinawa.

The species advised bars and restaurants to close after 9 pm after the end of the state of emergency, but many authorities are already breaking the rules, claiming that public financial support is not enough for businesses to survive.

Japan has been less affected by the pandemic than many other countries. In a country with 125 million people, some 17,500 people have died from Covid-19, and the government has never yet made a strong demand for the population to stay at home as much as possible.

However, several outbreaks have burdened hospitals.

Vaccination against Covid-19 in Japan began slowly but later picked up pace, with 58% of the population now fully vaccinated.

The species took over as prime minister after leaving Sindzo Abe due to ill health last September, but his popularity has plummeted ahead of this autumn’s parliamentary elections and he will not remain prime minister.

Japan is scheduled to elect the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Wednesday, which will elect a follower of the Species, who will almost certainly also become the new prime minister, as the party has a majority in parliament.

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