Covid Japan, state of emergency in 8 other prefectures: “Very serious picture”

Japan, which hosts the Paralympics, has decided to extend the “state of emergency” already in force in 13 regions of the country, including Tokyo and Osaka, to eight other prefectures to contain coronavirus infections. The measures will be effective from Friday and at least until 12 September also in the areas of Hokkaido, Miyagi, Gifu, Aichi, Mie, Shiga, Okayama and Hiroshima, as reported by the Kyodo agency. The decision was formalized by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga during a meeting of the task force for the fight against coronavirus after the green light of the experts. The “state of emergency” implies, among other things, early closures for restaurants and capacity limits for the centers commercial and the premier urged smart working to reduce travel. The situation of assistance in the areas affected by the measures is “very serious”, said the minister in charge of emergency response, Yasutoshi Nishimura. According to Kyodo, as of Friday 33 prefectures in Japan will be affected, out of 47 total, affected by the measures. restrictive – on various levels – to reduce infections.As Nishimura pointed out to the task force of experts, Nhk notes, in Japan there are more than 20,000 new cases of Covid-19 every 24 hours. Today, Kyodo reports, Tokyo reported 4,228 infections.