Society

Japan's governors want more areas cut from travel program as needed

Jul 20 (Kyodo) - Japan's prefectural governors on Sunday decided to ask the central government to consider excluding more areas from a travel campaign as necessary to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The governors said they hope the 1.35 trillion yen ($12.6 billion) subsidy initiative aimed at sparking domestic trips will help revive their virus-hit economies.

But "we have to avoid (the campaign) causing the virus to spread," they said in proposals to the central government compiled at an online meeting to discuss responses to the coronavirus.

The proposals will be submitted to the central government in the near future.

The government will launch the Go To Travel Campaign on Wednesday as planned, but is excluding Tokyo from the program after a recent spike in cases in the capital.

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