Japan to declare Covid quasi-state of emergency in 3 regions

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will place three prefectures under a quasi-state of emergency on Friday amid a spike in Covid-19 cases stemming from American military personnel based in the prefectures spreading the virus.

Okinawa prefecture, host to the vast majority of US bases in Japan, is expected to be fully put under a quasi-state of emergency, following a record 981 new daily Covid-19 cases being reported on Thursday, reports Xinhua news agency.

The prefectures of Yamaguchi and Hiroshima, meanwhile, will likely see the mandate only applied to certain towns and cities there, with the tougher measures coming into effect from Sunday through January 31.

Under the quasi-state of emergency, prefectural officials are empowered to further enhance antiviral measures, including asking eateries to close earlier and bars and restaurants to refrain from serving alcoholic beverages.

Caps on the number of people attending large-scale public events can also be imposed by the local governments, under the quasi-state of emergency.

Following consultations with health experts by relevant government personnel, Parliament will convene on Friday to hear why the more stringent antiviral measures are necessary.

The quasi-state of emergency will almost certainly be green-lit by Parliament as the three prefectures were hard hit and the nation in general are grappling to further limit the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant stemming from US bases into mainstream society, which is experiencing surging numbers of community transmissions.

The Prime Minister, if the quasi-state of emergency is approved by Parliament, will formally declare it so for the three prefectures later Friday, sources said.

(IANS)