Japan Not Yet Ready to Declare Virus Emergency, Abe Says

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the country can hold off for now on declaring an emergency over the coronavirus pandemic despite an increase in infections that has raised worries of an explosive spread of the disease.

Abe told parliament Thursday he will work with local governments to tackle the infection as he decides whether to grant them more powers to control the flow of materials and people by declaring an emergency. He added that he was considering how to inform lawmakers before the emergency is declared.

Japan has had the fewest confirmed infections among the Group of Seven leading countries at about 2,400 -- compared to about 217,000 in the U.S. -- despite being one of the first places outside of original epicenter in China to get confirmed cases. Abe’s government has said what could tip the scales would be infection numbers shooting up and strains appearing in the medical system.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said earlier on Thursday that Abe would explain his reasoning for any emergency declaration directly to the people. “Declaring an emergency could lead to limitations on individual rights, so we will provide an opportunity for the prime minister to explain expert opinion and the background leading to the decision,” Suga told reporters.

Even if Abe declares an emergency, due to civil liberties enshrined in Japan’s postwar constitution the government cannot send police to clear people off the streets, as has happened in places including France, Italy and the U.K.

Governments across Asia are reinforcing their defenses as the virus’s global spread fuels a second wave of cases. Hong Kong and Singapore have both issued calls for people to stay inside and avoid gatherings in lieu of more complete lockdowns.

Shortly before Abe spoke, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said that if an emergency is declared, she wants Abe himself to ask people to avoid going out. Under an emergency, the prefectural governor is empowered to ask people to stay at home, but not to enforce the request.

“It would be a powerful thing for the national government to give directions,” Koike said on TV Asahi. “This is a national crisis, so we need them to show the way.”

Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshida called on Abe earlier this week to declare an emergency in his own prefecture as well as Tokyo, the Asahi newspaper reported.

The government’s panel of virus experts is extremely concerned about the situation in Tokyo and other urban areas. Confirmed infections in the capital tripled in the last 10 days of March and stood at 587 as of Wednesday.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.