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JAPAN is bracing for a spike in COVID-19 cases with more than 1,000 new cases for the first time, coming a week after the government started a domestic travel campaign to revive the tourism industry.
Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan, which was the last prefecture free of COVID-19, reported its first case recently. Meanwhile, Okinawa prefecture in the south recorded 44 cases, a record for three consecutive days.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government launched a national travel campaign entitled “Let’s Travel” on July 22, which targeted the recovery of the tourism industry even though cases of COVID-19 infection were still quite high.
According to Norio Sugaya, a member of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) influenza panel, said the campaign was released at the wrong time.
“I really support the tourism industry, but we shouldn’t do it (campaign) when the infection returns. The virus is spreading while people are traveling. It is clear that it is a mistake,” said Sugaya.
Sugaya added that doctors will immediately give warning signs. Hospitals will fill up soon, as will intense wards. On the other hand, Tokyo plans to cut the operating hours of restaurants and karaoke establishments.
“The local government is considering providing compensation of 200,000 yen (around IDR27 million) for shops that comply with authorities’ requests to close at 10 pm from August 3 to 31,” he concluded. [antaranews/photo]
