Japan declares quasi-emergency state for Tokyo, 12 other areas
Xinhua
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TOKYO, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan declared a COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency for Tokyo and 12 other prefectures on Wednesday, as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has been spreading rapidly in these areas.

The targeted regions include Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa in the metropolitan area, Aichi, Gifu and Mie in central Japan, Nagasaki, Kumamoto and Miyazaki in the country's southwest region, as well as Niigata, Gunma and Kagawa Prefecture.

Hiroshima, Yamaguchi and Okinawa have already been placed under a quasi-emergency since early this month. The new measures will mean about a third of Japan's 47 prefectures are subject to stricter curbs.

Under the quasi-state of emergency, restaurants and bars will be asked to close early and stop or limit the serving of alcohol.

The restrictions will take effect from Friday to Feb. 13.

The governors of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo in western Japan are planning to discuss whether to ask for quasi-emergency curbs at a virtual meeting on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has taken COVID-19 response as the top priority since taking office in October last year, and his government is faced with the task of striking a balance between imposing anti-virus measures and keeping the economy going.

"I think we don't need to have eateries closed if people dine in a group of about four and speak quietly while wearing face masks," said Shigeru Omi, the government's top COVID-19 adviser.

Japan has been seeing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases since early January amid the spread of the Omicron variant, with the nationwide figure of daily cases rising nearly 200 times to 32,197 on Tuesday from around 150 in the previous month.

The number of new cases in Tokyo stood at 7,377 on Wednesday, over 1,000 more cases than the previous record of 5,908 registered in August last year.

The daily count of new cases in the capital had remained under 100 from October last year to Jan. 2.

Japan has started its booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine program, which began with inoculation for medical staff in December 2021, followed by senior citizens from February this year and then people in general.

The vaccination rate of Japanese who have finished the full two shots totaled 79.9 percent, while the rate of those who have received the booster dose was 1.3 percent, according to government data on Wednesday.