Japan announced on Saturday that it is considering new emergency protocols as coronavirus cases continue to rise.
Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said a decision would be made after government officials met with health experts in the country, according to Reuters.
“The national government and the three governors shared the view that the situation in the Tokyo area is becoming more severe, so a declaration of urgency may be needed,” Nishimura said at a recent meeting with Governor Yuriko Koike in Tokyo. reported Reuters.
Under the proposed measure, places serving alcoholic beverages will close at 7pm and karaoke restaurants and bars will close at 8pm, Japan has previously allowed voluntary closure of businesses and restrictions on travel to and from the country instead of a strict closure. at the national level, according to the news media.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was reluctant to reinstate a request for a state of national emergency, which was initially introduced at the beginning of the pandemic in April.
Hospitalizations in Japan have risen as a result of the recent surge in coronavirus cases, and an infection control manager at a local hospital in Tokyo, Fumie Sakamoto, is expected to worsen.
“The Japanese government has not done much to control the infection,” Sakamoto told Reuters. “It simply came to our notice then [infection] the numbers will increase in the coming days, and the declaration of urgency should have come earlier, probably in December or November ”.
Japan reported a total of 239,068 coronavirus cases and 3,342 virus-related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins.