The governors of the Tokyo region agreed on Monday to request more restrictive measures from the government of Japan, including shorter opening hours for bars and restaurants, to help fight the rise in Covid-19 infections.
The highly infectious variant Omicron is driving a resurgence of coronavirus cases, which are near record levels, after the number of daily new cases surpassed 25,000 nationwide in the past two days.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told an online meeting of governors that the hospital bed occupancy rate for Covid-19 patients was estimated at 20% on Monday, an important threshold for calling for additional restrictive measures.
The measures being considered by the government will cover nine “prefectures” (Japan is divided into 47 “prefectures”) in addition to Tokyo, broadcaster FNN reported.
The move would follow restrictions imposed this month in three regions that are home to US military installations, after outbreaks of Omicron at military bases apparently spread to neighboring communities.
However, the effectiveness of emergency declarations in changing people’s behavior has declined after Japan repeatedly rolled out the measure during the pandemic, said public health expert Kenji Shibuya.
“Omicron is a very important test case for any community,” said Shibuya, who coordinates vaccine efforts in northern Japan, adding that authorities need to figure out how best to manage the disease while maintaining socioeconomic activity.
The essential goal now is to accelerate booster shots by testing and distributing oral treatments to prevent Omicron infections in overwhelmed hospitals, Shibuya added.
Varying degrees of emergency measures taken in various parts of Japan last year were lifted in late September.
A full emergency declaration would be requested when hospital bed occupancy in Tokyo reaches halfway, Koike said last week.
The capital allocated about 6,900 beds for coronavirus care, out of a total of about 128,000 beds in the region.
Reference: CNN Brasil
