Japan’s Abe declares state of emergency for Tokyo, virus-hit regions

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday declared a state of emergency for several regions battling against the coronavirus, as a rising rate of infection caused alarm in major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka.

The state of emergency applies to the Japanese capital, the three neighbouring provinces Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitma, as well as Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka. It is to come into effect on Wednesday and remain in place until May 6.

The move will empower local authorities to order residents to stay at home, while also closing schools and other facilities.

However, the measures are not as extreme as the lockdowns seen in Italy or France.

Japanese citizens impacted by the state of emergency can not be prosecuted for disregarding it, nor can companies be forced to close. Instead, the country is relying on social pressure to keep people from spreading the potentially deadly virus.

Also on Tuesday, the Japanese government adopted its largest-ever economic stimulus package, worth 108 trillion yen (990.2 billion dollars), in an effort to protect the world’s third-largest economy against the coronavirus crisis.

The measures mainly aim to support families and small businesses.

The economic stimulus is far greater than the around 57 trillion yen made available during the 2008 global financial crash.

Japan’s gross domestic product shrank by 7.1 per cent in the final quarter of 2019, with the ongoing health and economic crisis only adding to economists’ concerns that the country is sliding into a technical recession, defined by two consecutive quarters of economic decline.

In another blow to the country, the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were to be hosted by Japan, have been postponed until next year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has ground world travel to a halt and led to the introduction of draconian measures to slow the outbreak across the globe.

According to the latest figures from the US Johns Hopkins University, almost 4,000 cases of infection have been confirmed in Japan, with 92 deaths from the Covid-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Around 600 people have recovered from the illness.