Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has lifted the state of emergency in large areas of Japan that have dramatically decreased their rate of infection. The country’s current infection rate is one seventh of what it was at Japan’s peak. However Tokyo, Osaka and on the northern island of Hokkaido, remain in the state of emergency as new cases continue to appear daily. Despite newly found freedom to begin moving around again, many prevention efforts are still in place.
Shinzo urges the Japanese public to be mindful of Coronavirus and act with preventative measures. The public is expected to wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines. Lifting the state of emergency poses new social concerns for Japan as they received a substantial amount of criticism for their early handling of the outbreak. Japan appears to have avoided the epidemic on the scale of the US or Russia from their original outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Johns Hopkins University confirms 16,049 cases and 678 deaths within Japan. Despite Tokyo, Osaka and Hokkaido remaining on the uprise, Japan appears to be slowly slipping free from the effects of COVID-19.
Full Story – Coronavirus: State of emergency lifted in most of Japan
