TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga urged the nation on Friday (Dec 25) to spend a quiet New Yr interval without the social gatherings to stop the spread of COVID-19, which has been breaking infection record almost every day passing.
Suga also declares a package deal of US$2.6 billion for hospitals treating COVID-19 infected people which have come under strain due to the rapid rise in cases throughout the northern island of Hokkaido as well as giant cities like Tokyo and Osaka.
“I would like you to spend a quiet New Yr,” the premier advised a press conference in Tokyo with the government’s main coronavirus expert Shigeru Omi.
“The infections aren’t coming down and if we maintain going like this, we cannot be capable to keep away from further spread of the virus.”
The nation confirmed its first 5 cases of the new, faster-spreading variant of the virus in passengers arriving from the UK, Health Minister Norihisa Tamura stated late on Friday.
Suga known for strong quarantine measures at airports and on those coming back from the UK, Tamura stated after his meeting with the prime minister.
Japan has banned entry from United Kingdom, except for returning Japanese nationals and people with residence permits.
Japan doesn’t celebrate Christmas, however, the New Yr time is an extended nationwide vacation, with many individuals normally traveling back to their hometowns and spending time with family & friends.
Omi warned that it was important that “all residents move in the same route”, to get a grip on the health crisis.
“If we do not deliver infections down now, as soon as they surge once more after the New Yr time it will not be simple to change the downward pattern,” he stated. “It might take time, and would probably be not possible to control over a period of weeks,” he stated.
Omi stated shared meals were a major reason behind infections and known as on individuals to refrain from holding giant gatherings and to restrict meals to 4 individuals one usually ate with, or fewer.
Whereas Japan has avoided the large infection numbers seen in other parts of the world, the number of daily new cases surpassed 3,000 for the first time this month.
Tokyo reported 884 infections on Friday, close to Thursday’s record 888.
HOSPITALS, VACCINES
Underscoring the strain on the hospitals, 5 national teams of medical doctors and different medical employees made an emergency request to Suga on Friday, asking for robust anti-pandemic measures and assistance for the medical sector.
With hospitals equipped for treating COVID-19 filling up, other hospitals are being pressured to simply accept patients with the disease, based on Tsuyoshi Masuda, president of the Japan Federation of Democratic Medical Institutions.
“These small and medium-sized hospitals, which have been supporting medical providers of their respective areas, are dealing with a disaster that’s threatening their survival,” Masuda informed reporters at a separate press conference on Friday.
He also warned that the danger of in-hospital infections was high at institutions not specialized in coping with infectious diseases.
Japan, with a population of 126 million, has struck offers to buy 290 million vaccine doses from Pfizer Inc, AstraZeneca Plc, and Moderna Inc, or sufficient for 145 million individuals.
A health ministry panel stated that individuals aged 65 or older should get priority for vaccination towards COVID-19, as well as frontline healthcare employees and other people with underlying medical conditions.
It specified chronic heart disease, chronic respiratory disease, and chronic kidney disease, amongst others, as underlying situations that should decide priority.
The panel’s suggestions would mean 36 million aged individuals and 8.2 million individuals with medical situations could be the first to obtain shots.
