Japanese Premier Declares COVID-19 State of Emergency in Tokyo

The Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga, has declared a COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo, the world’s most populated city with an estimated population of 37 million people living around its metropolis.

The Prime Minister gave out measures made to combat spread of the deadly virus which will remain in place until August 22. The government is expected to give additional directives on the matter.

Japan’s economy minister and the head of coronavirus response team, Yasutoshi Nishimura, told reporters that the state of emergency will officially began on July 12 and run all through until August 22.

This means that the upcoming Tokyo Olympics will be subject to the new measures. The Olympics are slated to run through from July 23 to August 8 in the city.

This will require the government to either cut down the number of spectators allowed to watch the Olympic events or ban the spectators. One month ago, organizers of the Olympics said they would be allowing just 10,000 people or half of the venue’s capacity during the events.

Earlier Japan issued a directive banning foreign spectators from jetting in the country to watch the events.

Local and national government officials together with Olympic and Paralympics officials are expected to give clear directives on the matter before the week wraps up.

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