Japan not to declare emergency despite virus spike

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Japan’s Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide on Friday ruled out declaring state of emergency in view of the rising cases of COVID-19.

Speaking to reporters, Suga said: “There is no such [declaring emergency] need at the moment,” NHK News reported.

Japan on Thursday reported record 1,661 new cases for the first time since Aug. 7 when the country logged 1,605 cases – the previous highest since the outbreak of the deadly infection.

The capital Tokyo alone reported 393 coronavirus cases yesterday.

Suga revealed infection was surging especially in Hokkaido, Tokyo, Osaka, and Aichi.

Backing his stance with expert view, the premier said there was no need to review the "Go To Travel" campaign.

Japan has launched the domestic tourism campaign to boost economy which has been hit hard by the pandemic with annual loss of over 28% in growth.

The country imposed a nationwide state of emergency in April to stem the spread of the infection. It was lifted in May.

Japan has reported 111,711 infections, including 1,851 deaths, thus far. Around 100,005 patients have recovered from the illness.