Mar 03 (Japan Times) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed Monday to expedite the enactment of legislation needed to declare a state of emergency, in order to “minimize the impact on Japanese citizens’ livelihood†from the rapid spread of COVID-19.
“It is critical to always anticipate the worst-case scenario, and be prepared to take measures if the coronavirus spreads exponentially in certain areas in the future,†Abe told lawmakers during a meeting of the Upper House Budget Committee.
The prime minister said the government hopes the new legislative measures will be equivalent to those taken under a law implemented in 2013 aimed at tackling a novel influenza virus that became a pandemic in 2009.
Under the 2013 law, if a state of emergency is declared, municipal leaders are authorized to ask residents to stay inside and temporarily close or downscale schools and other public facilities.
Municipal governments are also able to build temporary medical facilities to treat a surge of patients, dispense medicine and vaccines, and ask businesses to distribute necessary materials.
The health ministry also unveiled a subsidy plan for companies that would allow parents who work full or part time to take time off to care for children up to elementary school age, as well as those enrolled in special education schools. According to the plan, companies regardless of size that pay qualified workers up to ¥8,330 per day are eligible for the new subsidy, with time off being considered separately from paid leave. The program is applicable for the period starting Feb. 27 to March 31.
At least 18 new cases of the disease were confirmed Monday, including five each in Hokkaido and Kanagawa, four in Niigata, two in Osaka and one each in Ehime and Kochi. In the first case for Ehime Prefecture, a bank clerk in her 40s who tested positive for the virus had attended a concert at a club in the city of Osaka with a friend in her 30s who was also infected.
