TOKYO: The Japanese government Tuesday adopted a bill that will enable the prime minister to declare a state of emergency and initiate powerful measures to contain the novel coronavirus if necessary.

The bill to revise the 2012 law on special measures to fight new strains of influenza is expected to pass the Diet, Japan's parliament, on Friday.

The revision will add COVID-19 to the list of diseases covered by the law for up to two years from its enforcement. The period can be extended for one year.

The purpose of the revision is "to prepare for the worst," said Economic and Fiscal Policy Yasutoshi Nishimura, in charge of the amendment, told a news conference.

"We hope such a situation won't happen," he said, stressing that the revised law would be the government's last resort.

The revised law will allow the prime minister to declare a state of emergency if a rapid spread of the disease is expected to cause a grave impact on citizens' lives and the economy.

When making such a declaration, the prime minister would designate the regions to be covered and specify when the declaration would expire.

The governors of the affected prefectures would be able to request local residents to stay home, restrict the use of facilities where many people gather, such as schools and movie theaters, and expropriate land and buildings.

The 2012 law, enacted when the Liberal Democratic Party was an opposition party, covers new and reemerging flu strains and unknown infectious diseases.

A Diet group of opposition parties including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is concerned about the restrictions on private rights that would be caused by these measures.

The group is requesting that a provision be added to require the government to obtain Diet consent before declaring a state of emergency.

But the LDP-led ruling bloc does not want to modify the bill. The camp is considering attaching to the bill a supplementary resolution including the requirement.

JIJI Press