The increase in coronavirus cases in Japan has reached a "critical" level, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday after extending the COVID-19 state of emergency until September 12 and applying it in seven more prefectures
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th August, 2021) The increase in coronavirus cases in Japan has reached a "critical" level, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday after extending the COVID-19 state of emergency until September 12 and applying it in seven more prefectures.
"Last weekend, the number of new infections exceeded 20,000 within a 24-hour period. It is a critical situation," Suga told a televised press conference.
The highly-contagious Delta variant accounts for much of the rise in cases, he said.
"In this regard, I would like to ask once again for efforts in reducing travel by 70%, which is a result already achieved by many companies this spring," Suga said.
The Japanese prime minister urged malls, and particularly their food courts, to halve capacity at peak hours. He called on employers to switch as many workers as possible to remote work.
Starting Friday, the state of emergency will be imposed in the prefectures of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Hyogo, and Fukuoka, in addition to Tokyo, Okinawa, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, and Osaka, where the state of emergency is already in effect.
