On Friday July 31, Tokyo reported 463 confirmed Covid-19 coronavirus cases, breaking the previous daily record set the day before. These numbers come after last week’s four-day long weekend, when Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike urged residents to stay home and only go out for essential reasons. After today’s numbers were reported, Koike again warned residents about the rampant spread of the virus.
NHK reports Koike saying: ‘We're almost at the point where declaring a state of emergency just for Tokyo has to be considered. I want to ask everyone to take action so that we can avoid further measures.’ Koike is also asking for residents to avoid typical summer activities like travelling and attending events and gatherings.
To combat the spread of the virus, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is also requesting restaurants, bars and karaoke parlours to close at 10pm from August 3 until the end of the month. Participating restaurants will receive ¥200,000 for complying.
Japan Today reports that, earlier on Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Japan does not need to declare a second state of emergency because ‘the current trend in infections was different from that in March and April’. The number of confirmed cases is continuing to rise throughout the country, with Okinawa, Osaka and Aichi (Nagoya) and other prefectures reporting record-breaking numbers recently.
Today marks the first time Tokyo has reported over 400 cases in a day. At the time of writing, there are a total of 12,691 confirmed cases in Tokyo.
Keep up to date with the coronavirus situation in Tokyo and Japan here.
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