Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced Thursday that the government will lift the COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama from March 22. The state of emergency has been imposed in Tokyo since Jan. 7 after infections hit a record high of 2,520 in January.
Suga said that he is preparing Japan to safely hold the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2021 over the summer. He vows to host the Olympics in July as “proof of the victory against the coronavirus”. He said that “We will deliver courage and hope from Japan to the world.”
Japan lifted the measure after the decline in COVID-19 infection rate and fall in hospitalization since January. The lifting of the measure will also help businesses to resume their operations which is essential for economic growth and stability.
Yoshihide Suga stressed that the government will also take proper measures to prevent a resurgence of coronavirus infection even after the lifting of the emergency status.
Japan to expand COVID-19 tests
The government will conduct coronavirus tests for people without COVID-19 symptoms, at railway stations and crowded places. It plans to test 5,000 people a day for coronavirus next month.
Japan pays subsidies to bars and for restaurants
The government will request restaurants and bars to close at 9 p.m. and follow COVID-19 guidelines. It will also pay $366 a day to restaurant and bar owners for their cooperation.
Japan has registered about 420,000 cases of COVID-19 and 7,000 deaths so far. It has not imposed a compulsory/hard lockdown but it has kept the COVID-19 rate lower compared to US, India, and EU nations. Japan began its COVID-19 vaccination program for health workers in February, intending to inoculate over 57 million people in the first rounds of the program. The government is vaccinating 80,000 people daily now.
PM Suga has received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. He wants to keep the COVID-19 infection rate under control ahead of his planned trip to Washington in April for his summit with U.S. President Joe Biden.
Yoshihide Suga has promised to protect the lives and health of people. He has also urged people to follow COVID-19 guidelines and co-operate in reducing COVID-19 infections. Suga said, “We must not put our guards down … to prevent the infections from rebounding.”
Some experts have expressed concern that lifting the state of emergency can cause a surge in COVID-19 cases as the public will become careless and will not follow precautionary measures.
