Home   >   News   >   Experts Urge Stricter Coronavirus Measures amid traditional spring events

Experts Urge Stricter Coronavirus Measures amid traditional spring events

By on March 5, 2021

At a Tokyo metropolitan government meeting yesterday, medical experts called for stricter measures to reduce new coronavirus cases in the capital before the state of emergency is lifted.

“We need to not only curb the flow of people but take further steps,” an expert said at the coronavirus monitoring meeting.

Many members of the meeting also warned of a possible resurgence in the cases.

Norio Omagari of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine said he fears that “the number of new cases will turn up” due to cherry blossom-viewing parties as well as farewell and welcome parties in spring.

Insufficient efforts to contain the second wave of infection last summer led to the substantial third wave of cases, he stressed.

Japan confirmed 1,170 new cases of novel coronavirus infection on Thursday, the second successive day above 1,000.

New COVID-19 fatalities totaled 67. The number of severely ill patients fell by nine from Wednesday to 398.

In Tokyo, new cases totaled 279. Among neighboring prefectures, new cases stood at 123 in Saitama, 107 in Chiba and 138 in Kanagawa. The four prefectures are now under the government’s COVID-19 state of emergency.

Tokyo’s new cases included 71 people in their 20s, 40 in their 30s and 36 in their 40s. Those aged 65 or older accounted for 62.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Thursday called on people to cooperate to end the current state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic as soon as two weeks later than initially planned.

The government is slated to decide at a meeting of its COVID-19 response headquarters today to extend the state of emergency to two more weeks after its expiry on March 7, Sunday.

 

About Ted Tanaka