TOKYO: The Japanese government believes that a business suspension request for nightlife establishments with hospitality services is one option to be studied if the number of new coronavirus infection cases related to these facilities continues rising, economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said July 11. 

Such a request may be made based on Article 24 of the revised special measures law to fight new strains of influenza, which now covers the novel coronavirus. That is, if following the current guidelines for preventing infections fail to produce effects in containing the spread of the virus, Nishimura, who is in charge of the government’s response to the virus crisis, told a press conference.

Many group infections have occurred recently at host clubs and other nightlife establishments in Japan.

Under the article, prefectural governors are entitled to issue business suspension requests in the name of seeking “necessary cooperation” in the fight against the virus, even when a state of emergency over the pandemic is not being declared by the central government. Such a declaration was fully lifted in the country on May 25.

The prefectural government of Saitama, north of Tokyo, decided July 11 to make a business suspension request based on the article from July 6 to restaurants offering hospitality services without taking adequate prevention measures.

“This is one of very effective measures” against businesses failing to follow the prevention guidelines, Nishimura said. 

Still, he showed a cautious stance toward the idea of issuing a blanket suspension request to many outlets in a specific district, saying such a measure would have a negative aspect.

In reaction to the number of new infection cases in Tokyo that topped 200 for the third straight day on July 11,  Nishimura said the infection count has come to a level that requires vigilance.

The minister said an increasing number of people are getting infected by attending business dinners. He reiterated his call for efforts to avoid the three Cs: closed, crowded and close-contact settings.

Commenting on the latest situation in Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a speech in Chitose, the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido, that the rise in the number of new COVID-19 cases reflected an aggressive stance of finding infected people through increased polymerase chain reaction testing (PCR). 

Suga also said that there is no change in the government’s policy of promoting social and economic activities.

JIJI Press