TOKYO: Emergency closures of many elementary, junior high and senior high schools began across Japan on Monday to prevent a further spread of the new coronavirus.

Many public and private schools acted in line with an education ministry request for the measure designed to keep all schools shut until the regular spring break ends in early April, as COVID-19 cases keep increasing.

However, some municipalities opted to start closures at a later date.

"We were in a situation in which we had to do whatever we could to prevent mass infections among children at schools," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at the beginning of a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament.

The government plans to take measures such as financial assistance to guardians of schoolchildren whose incomes will decrease because they have to take time off work as a result of the policy.

In the education ministry's request, schools were urged to instruct students to generally spend their time at home during the closures.

Prefectural education boards and other entities have the authority to decide whether to comply with the request and close schools they govern.

This has led to differences in how schools respond. Municipal elementary and junior high schools in the city of Chiba, east of Tokyo, chose to close from Tuesday, while prefectural high schools in Shimane Prefecture, western Japan, decided to continue classes.

In Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, the emergency closures started Monday, but schools are kept open for children of working parents. Local resident Akiko Saga, a 38-year-old corporate worker, welcomed the measure, saying she has no relative nearby to leave her daughter with.

JIJI Press