TOKYO: The Japanese government Saturday decided to partially suspend its Go To Campaign demand-stimulating programs due to a spike in novel coronavirus infections in some regions.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s administration changed course after refusing to review the programs citing the importance of balancing efforts to stop the epidemic with economic activities.

For the Go To Travel tourism promotion scheme, the government will temporarily halt new reservations for destinations where infections are spreading.

It will also suspend the issuance of new meal vouchers under the Go To Eat program for supporting eating and drinking establishments.

“We will consider the state of infections in areas where the spread of the virus has reached a certain level and cooperate with prefectural governors to implement stronger measures,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said at a meeting of the government’s headquarters for coronavirus measures.

His comments came after a government panel subgroup on coronavirus measures sought a review of the Go To Travel scheme Friday, including the possible exclusion of some regions, based on opinions from prefectural governors.

Saturday’s decision lacked details, however. Suga did not say when the suspensions of travel reservations and voucher issuance will start or clarify the places that will be affected by the reservation halt.

After Saturday’s meeting, Suga stressed to reporters that the government is responsible for protecting the lives and livelihoods of citizens. But he did not answer a question whether the decision was made belatedly.

At the meeting, Suga also said that virus tests will be conducted immediately on users and staff of medical and elderly care facilities at the government’s expense if infections are discovered.

He also maintained that there is no change in the government’s policy of resuming economic activities while implementing measures to stop the spread of the virus.

“The citizens’ support is vital to avoid a situation that warrants harsher measures,” he said, asking the public to thoroughly implement infection prevention measures, such as wearing face masks while eating with others.

At a news conference after the meeting, economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said the Japan Tourism Agency will urgently work out details of the Go To Travel reservation halt.

Nishimura also said that the government will examine coronavirus situations and respect the opinions of governors when choosing regions where new reservations under the Go To Travel program will be suspended.

On Friday, the subgroup said some prefectures are seeing situations that should be graded Stage 3, which indicates a rapid increase in infections. Stage 3 is the second-worst level on the four-tier scale for measuring the degree of spread of the coronavirus.

JIJI Press