TOKYO: Tokyo reported a record 1,591 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, as Japan's government faces increasing pressure from health experts to impose a strict state of emergency for the greater metropolitan area.
Rising infections have driven the Tokyo and surrounding areas to the highest level of a four-stage alert, prompting regional governors to urge for a declaration of emergency that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is expected to announce on Thursday.
The health ministry held a meeting of infectious disease experts on Wednesday, the second in as many days. They have called for stricter and longer countermeasures, while Suga has sought a more limited response to avoid damaging the economy.
"Even if we take strong measures immediately, it will be difficult to bring the Tokyo metropolitan area down to stage 3 by the end of January," Takaji Wakita, chief of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, told reporters after the meeting.
Without new measures, daily infections in Tokyo could nearly triple to 3,500 per day by February and hit 7,000 by March, according to simulations by Kyoto University scientist Hiroshi Nishiura. An emergency declaration would need to last at least two months to bring infections to manageable levels, he said.
A senior ruling party lawmaker said on Tuesday it should be set for one month, and extended if necessary. The government is anxious about the economic impact as it prepares to host the Olympics this summer.
The government's top spokesman, Katsunobu Kato, said a decision would likely come on Thursday on whether and how long to impose the second state of emergency since the start of the pandemic.
Economists warned of a big hit to gross domestic product (GDP) if restrictions are prolonged or expanded, but noted that could be unavoidable.
"If you consider the current number of infected and weather-related factors, it may be difficult to end it in one month," said BNP Paribas Securities senior economist Hiroshi Shiraishi. "The probability of it running longer is not low."
Nationwide, COVID-19 infections reached a daily record of 4,915 on Tuesday, while deaths were also an all-time high of 76.
Shiraishi estimated that a one-month state of emergency in the Tokyo area would push consumer spending down 1.1% and first-quarter GDP by about 0.5 percentage points. That would double to 1 percentage point if extended to two months, and to 2 points if expanded nationally, he predicted.
Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures have asked residents to refrain from non-essential, non-urgent outings after 8 p.m. from Friday until at least the end of the month, and said restaurants and bars must close by that time.
But measures are likely to be far less sweeping than they were during last year's roughly six-week-long state of emergency, during which schools and non-essential businesses shut down.
Tokyo daily coronavirus cases hit record as state of emergency looms
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Tokyo daily coronavirus cases hit record as state of emergency looms
- Rising infections have driven the Tokyo and surrounding areas to the highest level of a four-stage alert
Russia says two crew members from US-seized tanker released
- “Two Russian sailors have been released and are on their way home to Russia,” Zakharova said
- Russia announced earlier this month that the US had decided to release the Russian duo
MOSCOW: Moscow said Wednesday two Russian crew members of a tanker seized this month by the United States in the Atlantic had been released and were on their way home.
US authorities took over the Russian-flagged vessel earlier this month, alleging it was part of a shadow fleet carrying oil from countries such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran in violation of US sanctions.
The United States said publicly that the Marinera’s crew could be prosecuted. Russia said that would be “categorically unacceptable” and accused Washington of stoking tensions and threatening international shipping.
“Two Russian sailors have been released and are on their way home to Russia,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency on Wednesday.
Russia announced earlier this month that the United States had decided to release the two Russian crew members, but last week its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the decision had not yet been implemented.
The captain and the first officer of the tanker have left UK waters, Solicitor General for Scotland, Ruth Charteris told a court hearing Tuesday, Press Association news agency reported.
“The captain and the first officer are now aboard the US Coast Guard vessel Munro and have departed the United Kingdom’s territorial sea,” Charteris said.
Twenty-six of the 28 crew have left the ship, officials told AFP. They were processed at a military site in Inverness, Scotland, the court was told, according to Press Association.
Five wanted to travel to the United States and 21 elsewhere. None have claimed asylum, the court heard.
“At the request of the US authorities, crew members have been allowed to disembark for onwards travel,” a UK government spokesperson told AFP Wednesday.
“They will be processed in line with all appropriate immigration and legal requirements.”
Britain was not involved in the movement of the other two crew members, the government said.
The United States seized the tanker, previously known as Bella 1, which was being escorted by the Russian navy, after chasing it from near the Venezuelan coast.
It was re-flagged and re-named to bring it under Russian jurisdiction in a bid to discourage the United States from trying to take it as part of its campaign against Venezuela.
