Japan PM plans fresh emergency curbs

TOKYO: The Japanese government plans to declare a state of emergency for the third time for Tokyo and three other prefectures following a resurgence of new Covid-19 infections, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday. Suga told reporters the government will formally declare the state of emergency after a meeting with experts to be held on Friday, when asked when the decision will be made. While Suga did not specify the length of the state of emergency, public broadcaster NHK said the government is considering imposing the curbs from April 25 to May 11. Suga also did not give any details on what steps the new state of emergency could entail. But media reports say they could include stronger steps than those issued in January, such as requests for bars and department stores to close and for events to be conducted without spectators. Some analysts said another state of emergency could push Japan back into recession if retailers are asked to close during the Golden Week holidays, which start next week and run through early May. “The risk of a double-dip recession has clearly heightened’’, said Hiroshi Shiraishi, senior economist at BNP Paribas Securities. “The impact of imposing curbs on Tokyo and Osaka alone would be quite big.” Japan, which has only just emerged from a severe economic slump last year, is struggling to contain both a resurgent outbreak and the economic fall-out. Japan has so far avoided an explosive spread of the pandemic that has plagued many Western countries. There have been a total of about 540,000 cases and a death toll of 9,707. But the latest rise in infections has stoked alarm, coming just three months before the planned start of Olympics and amid a sluggish vaccination roll-out. — Reuters