Live updates: Surgeon general warns of ‘hardest, saddest week’ ahead as U.S. coronavirus infections and deaths soar; Japan to declare state of emergency - The Washington Post

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he will declare a state of emergency Tuesday to cover seven prefectures, including Tokyo and the city of Osaka, most severely affected by the coronavirus outbreak, but promised no lockdowns like those implemented elsewhere.

“The period will be for one month as a rough estimate, and this declaration is issued in order to ask for more cooperation from the public to reduce as much as possible people-to-people contact that could lead to infections, and to establish the medical system to deal with the situation,” he said.

Abe said he would also announce an “unprecedented” economic rescue package Tuesday equivalent to around 20 percent of the gross domestic product.

“We must keep protecting employment,” he said. “Even though we will declare a state of emergency, we will not lock cities down as has been done overseas,” Abe said, adding that the government aimed to maintain as much economic activity as possible.

Under the state of emergency, people will be asked to refrain from going outdoors, but no legal penalties will be imposed for noncompliance. Companies may be asked to tell employees to work from home, and schools may be closed, but trains will continue to run and supermarkets will stay open.

Infections have begun to rise sharply in Japan during the past two weeks, with around 360 new cases found on Sunday, bringing the reported number of people who have contracted the virus to 3,865, with 93 deaths, not including cases and fatalities from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Abe has been under growing pressure from the medical profession and general public to declare a state of emergency. Tokyo is by far the worst-affected region, and its hospitals are already struggling to cope with more than 950 people hospitalized with the virus already.

The other prefectures covered by the state of emergency will be Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba — all three around Tokyo — as well as Hyogo and Fukuoka.

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2020-04-06 11:50:00Z
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