TOKYO: Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on Wednesday called for the application of a stronger special law clause to enable the disclosure of the names of businesses failing to accept requests by the metropolitan government and authorities of other Japanese prefectures for temporary closures amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

The existing business suspension requests by local governments are based on the special law's Article 24, which allows them to only ask business operators for "necessary cooperation" in the fight against the coronavirus.

At a meeting with Japanese economic and fiscal policy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on the day, Koike sought to use the law's more powerful Article 45, which enables authorities to urge businesses to restrict or stop the use of their facilities and to unveil the names of businesses that do not follow the requests for suspending operations.

The Tokyo governor made the plea to the minister as some businesses in the Japanese capital and other places, such as pachinko pinball parlors, remain open despite the temporary closure requests.

The special law, which was enacted in 2012 for the original purpose of combating new influenza, was amended last month to cover the novel coronavirus as well. Based on the revised law, the central government declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic on April 7 for Tokyo and six other prefectures with spikes in infection cases, and expanded it to cover the entire nation last week.

After the meeting, Koike told reporters that she asked Nishimura to expand the discretion of prefectural governors to the minimum necessary.

The minister told Koike that the central government plans to present relevant guidelines on Thursday. The guidelines will show administrative procedures that governors need to follow when taking concrete actions, according to Nishimura.

Koike also called on Nishimura to exempt from tax the financial aid local governments plan to offer to businesses that temporarily halt operations based on the requests from the authorities.

The minister was also asked to show, before the start of the Golden Week holidays late this month, a timeline on the central government's talks on whether to extend the state of emergency declaration beyond the currently scheduled end on May 6, the final day of the holiday period.

Koike also said that the Tokyo metropolitan government will unveil on Thursday rules on restricting people's entry to supermarkets when they are crowded.

Stay-at-home requests issued by local authorities, including the Tokyo metropolitan government, to curb the spread of the coronavirus have led to people flocking to supermarkets for stocking up on foods and other goods while making them refrain from going downtown.

JIJI Press