Photo/Illutration The Nagoya TV Tower, rear, and “Spaceship Aqua” are illuminated in red on Aug. 6 to alert residents about the state of emergency issued by the Aichi prefectural government. (Mahito Kawai)

Aichi Prefecture experienced a bumpy first day under its independent state of emergency over the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The prefectural government confirmed 140 new infections on Aug. 6, the 10th straight day the number has topped 100.

Aichi's capital, Nagoya, accounted for 72 of the new cases.

The Nagoya TV Tower, a symbol of the city that stands in its central area, was lit up in red to let residents know that the alert level for the pandemic had hit the highest level of four.

The state of emergency that Aichi Governor Hideaki Omura issued is effective until Aug. 24. It urges the public to refrain from traveling and going out for nonessential purposes during the Bon holiday week.

But Omura sees no problem with residents traveling to and from neighboring Gifu and Mie prefectures. The governor said he considers the three Tokai region prefectures as “geographically and economically one.”

Under the emergency, residents are asked to not hold dinner parties with more than five people.

Residents are also asked to reconsider returning to their hometowns during the Bon holiday week and to cancel travel plans if they feel ill. 

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the same day said that the current situation regarding the pandemic is not dire enough for him to issue a nationwide state of emergency.

Omura said he understood the prime minister's position.

“I think dealing with the (pandemic) depending on the local situation is the right way,” he said.

The Nagoya city government decided at a meeting of its task force to deal with the pandemic to increase its capacity for conducting polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests from 433, the current number, to 876, by the end of August.

Currently, more than 100 beds for coronavirus patients are available at health care organizations in the city. Officials said at the meeting the city is expected to secure a total of 282 beds.

In Gifu Prefecture, 20 new cases were confirmed on the day. The age of patients varied from teenagers to those in their 70s.

A male public high school teacher in his 40s also tested positive.

In Mie Prefecture, 10 new cases were confirmed, including a child in a nursery school.

At Mie University, the site of an infection cluster, 23 people in total were infected with the virus as of Aug. 6.

(This article was written by Eriko Kai, Kei Kobayashi, Yosuke Sasaki and Hiroki Matsuzawa.)

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