Japan may likely issue state of emergency

There is growing concern across Japan that increasing COVID-19 cases will turn Tokyo into a new epicenter of the pandemic just as New York in the United States.

With 118 new cases added to the total number on Saturday alone, Tokyo saw over 100 patients a day for the first time, NHK reported on Sunday. The daily new cases almost doubled from last week’s 63 cases. A total of 891 confirmed cases have been reported in Tokyo, making the capital city account for more than a fifth of the national tally of 4,209 cases.

Of the total population of 13.5 million in Tokyo, only 4,000 citizens or so have taken a diagnostic test. There have been some 39,000 diagnostic tests across Japan as a whole. “As of Friday, South Korea - which has a much smaller population than Japan - had tested more than 440,000 people,” CNN wrote. With the coronavirus situation only escalating, some expect that the Japanese government will issue a state of emergency by which individuals’ rights may be partially restricted in the not-too-distant future.


lightee@donga.com