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Thursday March 28, 2024

Japan ending Tokyo’s coronavirus emergency; Over 11,000 Covid cases hit UK in a single day

By AFP
June 18, 2021

London: Britain on Thursday recorded 11,007 new daily coronavirus cases, with the emergence of the Delta variant pushing the figure above 10,000 for the first time since late February.

The government on Monday announced it was delaying steps to lift restrictions due to concern over the spread of the new strain, first detected in India. The government said a four-week delay would give it time to fully vaccinate millions more.

The death rate remains low, with 19 fatalities recorded on Thursday. The vaccines are believed to be highly effective against preventing serious illness from the variant. But there is concern whether rising case numbers will turn into death tolls similar to previous waves, which combined have seen 127,945 people lose their lives.

A government report published on Thursday found that cases are "rising exponentially" across England, driven by mostly unvaccinated age groups. The data suggested cases were doubling every 11 days.

Meanwhile, Japan’s government on Thursday approved lifting Tokyo’s virus emergency just over a month before the Olympics, but set new restrictions that could sharply limit fans at Games events.

The state of emergency in place in Tokyo began in late April and largely limits bar and restaurant opening hours and bans them from selling alcohol. That measure will now end in the capital and eight other regions on June 20, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced. It will stay in place in Okinawa.

"The number of infections nationwide has been declining since mid-May and the situation in terms of hospital beds is steadily improving," he said. "On the other hand, in some regions, there are signs that the fall in the number of infections is slowing," Suga added.

In place of the emergency, the government will implement so-called "quasi-emergency" measures in Tokyo and six other areas until July 11. The measures will slightly relax the rules on alcohol, allowing sales until 7 pm, but still asks restaurants and bars to shut at 8 pm.

Crucially, with just five weeks until the pandemic-postponed Games open, strict limits will remain on the number of spectators allowed at large events. The current state of emergency allows only 5,000 people or 50 percent of venue capacity, whichever is smaller. And on Wednesday, the government approved an upper limit of 10,000 spectators, but only for areas not under any restrictions.

Those rules are likely to guide Olympic organisers when they decide in the coming days how many domestic fans, if any, will be allowed to attend. Overseas fans have already been banned from the Games for the first time, and organisers said they would wait to rule on domestic spectators until the emergency was lifted.

The issue is controversial. While cases in Japan have fallen from their fourth wave peak, some medical professionals fear that crowds of Olympic spectators could fan a new surge. A report expected soon from some of the government’s top medical advisers will argue holding the Games without fans would be safest, national broadcaster NHK said Thursday.

The experts will urge that additional rules are imposed if spectators are allowed, NHK said. Suga noted that professional baseball and football games have continued with limited spectators throughout the emergency "and there have been few clusters".

But he also warned that measures could be tightened if the situation worsens. "If there are signs that the medical system is stretched because of another expansion (of infections), we will respond flexibly, including by reinforcing measures," he told a news conference.

Japan has seen a comparatively small virus outbreak, with slightly over 14,000 deaths while avoiding harsh lockdowns. Just over six percent of the population is fully vaccinated so far.

In a related development, new variants of Covid-19 are suspected of causing a sudden jump in the number of cases in the Russian capital, the mayor said on Thursday, amid a sluggish vaccination drive.

"It’s most likely we are facing new, more aggressive variants which spread more quickly," said mayor Sergei Sobyanin during a video conference with government officials battling the pandemic.

He noted that daily infections in the capital had soared from 3,000 to 7,000 within a few days and were expected to hit more than 9,000 on Friday. "It’s tripling, there’s an enormous dynamic that we have not seen during the previous waves," Sobyanin added.

The mayor had on Wednesday ordered mandatory vaccinations for Moscow residents working in the service industry, citing a "dramatic" rise in coronavirus infections. Some 60 percent of all service industry workers in Moscow -- just over two million people -- were ordered to be fully vaccinated by August 15, including taxi drivers, staff at cultural venues and restaurant workers.

Sobyanin on Saturday announced this week was a "non-working" week in the capital to try to control the virus. Moscow health officials have in recent weeks reported a steady rise in the number of new infections, mirroring a trend across Russia.