Coronavirus: Japan faces surge in cases amid bid to revive tourism
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A sign saying "Ventilating in progress" on the door of a restaurant in Tokyo's Roppongi district yesterday. The dire virus situation in the Japanese capital has prompted Tokyo to ask its restaurants, bars and karaoke parlours to shut earlier.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
TOKYO • Japan is bracing itself for a surge in the number of coronavirus infections after new daily cases exceeded 1,000 for the first time, a week after the start of a national travel campaign to revive the tourism industry.
The country had 1,264 new cases on Wednesday, according to a tally by national broadcaster NHK, surpassing the previous record of 981, with infections spreading rapidly not only in Tokyo, but also in other regions, including remote islands.
Northern Japan's Iwate prefecture, which had been the last-remaining prefecture free from coronavirus infection, had its first cases on Wednesday, while the southern island of Okinawa had 44 infections, hitting a record for the third day in a row.
The national travel campaign that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched last week to revive a battered tourism industry was criticised as ill-timed by a member of the World Health Organisation's influenza panel.
Professor Norio Sugaya said: "I'm all for supporting the tourism industry... But we should not do that when infection is resurgent. The virus spreads as people move. This is clearly a mistake,"
The dire situation in Tokyo has prompted the city to ask its restaurants, bars and karaoke parlours to shut earlier as Governor Yuriko Koike considers declaring a state of emergency if the spread worsens. "The current situation is more serious than before," she said. "Tokyo will have to declare a state of emergency if the situation gets worse."
Meanwhile, Japan's Foreign Ministry said the country is lifting a ban on the re-entry of some foreign residents next week.
From next Wednesday, some 90,000 foreign nationals with residence permits, including students, business people and trainees, who left Japan before their destination countries were added to the ban list, can apply to return.
They will have to obtain a "re-entry confirmation letter" from the nearest Japanese diplomatic mission and submit evidence of a negative virus test conducted within 72 hours of their flight.
From Sept 1, those conditions will also apply to foreign nationals in other categories, including the spouses and children of the residents.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
