Japan was preparing on Wednesday August 25 to extend to most of its territory health measures already in place in part of the country in an attempt to stem the spread of Covid-19, while record numbers of infections are regularly identified.
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In total, 33 of the 47 Japanese departments, including the capital Tokyo, which is currently hosting the Paralympic Games, will now be affected, according to a list approved Wednesday, August 25 by a committee of health experts and which was to be formally adopted and announced by the government in the evening. The country has been experiencing a fifth wave of coronavirus since the end of June, the most violent to date, aggravated by the spread of the Delta variant, which is more contagious.
A new record of infections was recorded nationwide last Friday (nearly 25,900 cases in 24 hours), while in Tokyo the seven-day average of new daily coronavirus cases has more than quintupled in six weeks.
Because of this outbreak of cases, the Japanese hospital system is "
in a serious situation
", declared Wednesday August 25 the minister responsible for the fight against the pandemic, Yasutoshi Nishimura.
State of emergency expanded to 21 departments
Two types of devices have been in place since July: the main one, the state of emergency - which will be extended on Wednesday August 25 from 13 to 21 departments - allows the government to ask bars and restaurants to close earlier and not to serve alcohol, and urge the population to avoid unnecessary outings.
However, these instructions are far from being rigorously applied.
The government also intends to ask shopping centers and department stores to restrict the number of customers they welcome simultaneously, and businesses to favor teleworking to reduce the daily trips of employees by 70%.
Another device, less restrictive, was to be extended Wednesday, August 25 to 12 departments in all.
Yasutoshi Nishimura asked the governors of all the departments concerned to work without delay to strengthen their medical system, by setting up oxygen dispensaries or ensuring that they have sufficient medical staff.
The measures put in place in schools will be strengthened, he added, announcing the distribution from the beginning of September of antigen test kits.
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The country, relatively spared from the pandemic so far, with some 15,600 deaths recorded since the appearance of the coronavirus on its soil, is also counting on its vaccination campaign to contain the pandemic. After a difficult start, nearly 42% of the population is now fully vaccinated.