Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the expansion of the state of emergency to Chiba, Kanagawa, and Saitama, which are adjacent to Tokyo, and Osaka in western Japan.
The decision also means that emergency measures in Tokyo and southern Okinawa that were originally scheduled to end on August 22 will now continue until the end of this month.
Emergencies have restricted alcohol sales in bars and restaurants and shortened business hours. There is a question of whether they are adequate.
Yoshihide Suga warned: “The highly contagious Delta variant is quickly taking over. If the increase in the number of infections does not decline, we may see an increase in the number of severely ill people and the hospitals are overwhelmed.”
The Japanese government’s senior adviser on virus issues and former WHO official Shigeru Omi warned that Japan is facing the “most serious crisis” since the pandemic.
“The fire is burning. What we must focus on is to control it as soon as possible,” he said.
Compared with many places, the number of cases in Japan is still small. On Friday, 3,300 new infections were reported in Tokyo, but experts said the medical system is already at risk of being overwhelmed.
