Photo/Illutration Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is leading the government’s efforts in dealing with COVID-19, left, and Shigeru Omi, an infectious diseases expert (Shinnosuke Ito)

The government on April 16 decided to apply pre-emergency measures to battle the novel coronavirus in four more prefectures, including three where the COVID-19 state of emergency was lifted just last month.

The government’s task force said the stronger measures would be taken in Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa and Aichi prefectures from April 20 to May 11, covering the Golden Week string of holidays.

Specifically, the municipalities that will fall under the measures are: Saitama and Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture; Ichikawa, Funabashi, Matsudo, Kashiwa and Urayasu in Chiba Prefecture; Yokohama, Kawasaki and Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture; and Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture.

The government’s expert panel on the dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic agreed on the measures earlier in the day.

After talks with health minister Norihisa Tamura and other Cabinet members, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters on April 15 that he is very concerned about the spread of variant COVID-19 strains across the nation.

“In Aichi Prefecture, the number of new COVID-19 patients is growing faster, and the number of variant strain cases is also increasing,” he said.

On the same day, Aichi Prefecture asked the central government for the pre-emergency measures and plans to designate its capital, Nagoya.

The three prefectural governments of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa held their respective task force meetings on April 15 and decided to request the pre-emergency measures.

The central government lifted the COVID-19 state of emergency for Tokyo and those three neighboring prefectures on March 21. But the number of infections has again resurged in the capital area.

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The Asahi Shimbun

The health ministry’s expert panel said the number of new COVID-19 patients has been increasing in April in Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures. The experts also said that the overall number of new virus cases in Chiba Prefecture is leveling off or even trending downward, but infections remain at a high level in areas near its border with Tokyo.

They said the number of new patients, particularly those in their 20s and 30s, has been soaring since late March in Aichi Prefecture, while the overall rate of increase has also remained high in the central Japan prefecture.

The pre-emergency measures are equivalent to those taken under the state of emergency. 

Residents in areas under the pre-emergency measures will be asked to avoid nonessential travel across prefectural borders, including during the Golden Week holidays.

The pre-emergency measures also allow governors to ask businesses, such as eating and drinking establishments, to close by 8 p.m. If they comply with the requests, they will receive cash handouts whose amount is based on the scale of the business.

If they refuse to comply, governors can order them to close early or even impose fines.
Local government officials will widen their patrols to strictly check to see if businesses are taking appropriate anti-virus measures, including installing barriers to protect customers against possibly virus-carrying droplets.

The central government for the first time applied the pre-emergency measures in Osaka, Hyogo and Miyagi prefectures starting on April 5. The measures were applied in Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa prefectures on April 12.

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