Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to declare a state of emergency in the country due to the recent surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in Tokyo and other major cities, government sources said on Monday. Abe's pressure to announce this has increased amidst appeals by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and Japan Medical Association to do so, and the recent increase in Covid-19 cases, reported Xinhua.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, along with health experts, said the number of hospital beds available for corona virus patients would soon reach its last capacity, so the Ministry of Health is increasingly trying to arrange more beds. A panel of government experts recently warned that the country's health system could collapse if the cases of corona virus continue to rise. Experts concluded that the stress on the health care system in Tokyo and in four other provinces is increasing, so "there is a need to retaliate very rapidly".
In this situation, Abe will have to consult an advisory panel consisting of medical experts to declare a state of emergency. Also it will be necessary to meet the specific criteria of the level of emergency. As of Sunday, 143 new cases of Covid-19 had been reported in Tokyo, the largest number recorded in a single day in the capital. A total of 1,034 cases were reported in the capital and 3,531 in Japan by Sunday afternoon.
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