Japan's expert panel approves plan to declare COVID quasi-state of emergency on 3 regions

TOKYO - The Japanese government's plan to declare a quasi-state of emergency for three prefectures to tackle surging COVID-19 cases was approved by an advisory panel of experts on Friday.

The approval now paves the way for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to officially place the three prefectures of Okinawa, Yamaguchi and Hiroshima under a quasi-state of emergency with the move coming amid a spike in COVID-19 cases stemmed from US military personnel based in the prefectures.

Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, host to the vast majority of US bases in Japan, is expected to be fully put under a quasi-sate of emergency, following 981 new daily COVID-19 cases being reported on Thursday, which is set to be surpassed by a new record in excess of 1,400 new daily virus cases on Friday, according to government sources' provisional figures.

The prefectures of Yamaguchi and Hiroshima, meanwhile, will likely see the mandate only applied to certain towns and cities there, with tougher measures coming into effect from Sunday through Jan. 31.

The minister in charge of Japan's coronavirus measures, Daishiro Yamagiwa, told the expert panel that the rampant nature of the latest COVID-19 spread, if remains unchecked, will soon see medical facilities overwhelmed.

He stressed that there was a need for the government to proactively tackle the situation and contain the spread of the virus.

Under the quasi-state of emergency, prefectural officials are empowered to further enhance antiviral measures, including asking eateries to close earlier and bars and restaurants to refrain from serving alcoholic beverages.

Caps on the number of people attending large-scale public events can also be imposed by the local governments under the quasi-state of emergency.

Following the approval of the move by the expert panel, relevant government personnel in parliament will convene to hear why the more stringent antiviral measures are necessary.

The quasi-state of emergency will almost certainly be green-lit by the parliament as the three prefectures hard hit and the nation in general are grappling to further limit the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Following the parliament's approval, the government will formalize the new measures at a meeting of its coronavirus task force later in the day.

According to the latest official figures in Tokyo, there were 641 new COVID-19 cases detected on Thursday, marking the highest daily caseload since Sept. 18 last year, as the Omicron variant continues to spread rampantly.

Nationwide, the number of new infections on Thursday topped the 3,000-mark for the first time since the end of September last year.