Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - A new wave of coronavirus cases appears to be rapidly spreading around the country, prompting Japan to is...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - A new wave of coronavirus cases appears to be rapidly spreading around the country, prompting Japan to issue a warning on Tuesday, advising people to take extra precautions in advance of an upcoming long weekend and upcoming summer school breaks.
In Japan, the number of new COVID-19 cases has recently risen to levels not seen since the year's commencement. The number of new cases in Tokyo rose to 16,878 on Wednesday, the highest level since February, while the number of cases nationwide surpassed 90,000.
Hirokazu Matsuno, chief cabinet secretary, said at a news conference that "we are seeing a rapid expansion" and that "we got a total of 94,466 new cases reported nationally yesterday." He added that "newly-infected persons have soared by 2.14-fold compared to the prior week."
The incidence of serious illnesses and fatalities, as well as the use of hospital beds, he claimed, both remained low.
Tokyo will raise its COVID alert rating to the maximum level, reports the Fuji News Network.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will hold a press conference on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. (0900 GMT) to address the coronavirus outbreak as well as how to cope with inflation brought on by the depreciating yen and rising fuel costs as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Shigeyuki Goto, the health minister, opened a committee hearing on the coronavirus by saying, "The number of new cases is rising in every prefecture in Japan, and it seems to be swiftly spreading."
Summer break and the upcoming three-day weekend "are likely to have further repercussions," he continued.
Tetsuo Saito, the minister of land and transport, who is also in charge of tourism, stated separately that it is not the right time to put in place a support and subsidy system for domestic travel.
In the later half of 2020, Japan launched a scheme to promote travel, but it was quickly discontinued after facing criticism for aiding in the broader spread of the coronavirus. A similar program's introduction later this year had been widely anticipated.
The economy minister of Japan, Daishiro Yamagiwa, stated that the nation is still not considering restricting people's freedom of movement or other activities.
There have been an increasing number of national cases involving government officials, including Karen Makishima, the head of the Digital Agency, and Taro Kono, the PR director for the ruling party.
