Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe has announced the end of the state of emergency he implemented a month and a half ago in order to curb the spread of coronavirus.
As reported by NHK, Japan has ended its state of emergency with only 851 deaths, and without implementing a lockdown. While the state of emergency has officially ended, the Prime Minister warns that this does not necessarily mean they are entirely safe from the virus.
Prime Minister Abe goes on to explain he is counting on citizens to continue practicing safe habits, including social distancing. Meanwhile Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike has thanked the citizens while urging caution as well.
Prime Minister Abe has cited economic reasons for why he is eager to pull back the restrictions set by the state of emergency.
“From now on, it’s important to think about how we can conduct business and live our lives while still controlling the risk of infection. The government’s coronavirus task force is set to meet shortly to finalize the decision.”
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic (also known as COVID-19 officially, or Chinese Flu to others) has affected many worldwide, from businesses to public gatherings and events.
This includes postponements of GDC, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the physical events for EVO 2020 and Tokyo Game Show 2020, and cancellations E3 2020 (including digital events), the physical event for Gamescom 2020, Comiket 98, and MAGStock 2020.
We also reported Japan finally re-opening theaters, and No Straight Roads being delayed to Summer 2020.
The Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering are mapping the virus’ spread [1, 2]. As of this time of writing, there are over over 2.920 million active cases worldwide. There have been over 346,000 deaths, however over 2.253 million people have made a “total recovery.” There have been over 5.519 million confirmed cases.
In Japan there are 2,139 active cases (16,581 total cases), 830 deaths, and 13,612 recoveries.
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Image: NPR
