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Tokyo-area governors to seek emergency declaration by state

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike speaks during an unscheduled news conference at Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Tokyo Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020. (AP)
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike speaks during an unscheduled news conference at Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Tokyo Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020. (AP)
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02 Jan 2021 01:01:25 GMT9
02 Jan 2021 01:01:25 GMT9

TOKYO: Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and the governors of three neighboring prefectures will request the Japanese government to swiftly declare a state of emergency over the new coronavirus based on a special law aimed at dealing with the pandemic, informed sources said Saturday.

To make the request, the governors of Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa will meet with economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is in charge of the government’s coronavirus response, later on Saturday, according to the sources.

The move comes as the COVID-19 outbreak in the Tokyo metropolitan area is showing no sign of abating.

In Tokyo, the daily count of new coronavirus cases hit a record high of 1,337 on Thursday, even though the metropolitan government has been asking Tokyo residents to refrain from going out, requesting restaurants to shorten their business hours and making other efforts to prevent the viral spread. The surge of infection cases has put the Japanese capital’s medical system under strain.

The Tokyo government had been considering seeking an emergency declaration by the state so that authorities will be allowed to take stronger measures, such as issuing business suspension requests.

In April last year, when the country was hit by the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, the central government declared a state of emergency over the virus. The state of emergency first covered Tokyo and some other prefectures and was then expanded to all other prefectures later that month. It was lifted in stages in the following month.

JIJI Press

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