The month-long emergency has been enforced in Tokyo and six other prefectures along with a record stimulus package announced by the Prime Minister
In order to escalate the efforts in fighting the pandemic in the country, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a month-long emergency, which would last till May 6, in Tokyo and six other designated prefectures including Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama. The Prime Minister, through a televised message, assured that this measure will not look anything like the European-syle lockdown and will focus more on spreading awareness about social distancing. Public transports would run as usual and roads would not be blocked. The cabinet, on April 7, passed a record stimulus package of 108tn yen in an attempt to stabilize the economic fallout of the world’s third-largest economy due to the pandemic. The package, which is 20% of the gross domestic product, is inclusive of the 39tn yen on direct spending. According to the Japanese government, the measures under the state of emergency would be mild including stay-at-home request, guidance for schools and universities to shut down, postponement of any mass event or public gatherings and requesting the non-essential businesses to shut down for the stipulated time. Tokyo’s governor Yuriko Koike has supported the emergency measures by saying that the measures are legally valid and therefore will resonate with the people. She also said that the government will start transferring patients with mild or no symptoms from hospitals to hotels in order to make room for more severe cases. According to the Health Ministry of Japan, as of April 8, the number of confirmed cases in the country is 3,906 as well as 712 cases from the cruise ship quarantined at Yokohama port near Tokyo and 91 deaths.
