Restaurants and bars had to close early in Tokyo and a dozen other areas across Japan yesterday as the country widened COVID-19 restrictions due to the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 causing cases to surge to new highs in metropolitan areas.
The restraint, which is something of a pre-state of emergency, is the first since September last year and is scheduled to last through Feb. 13.
With three other prefectures — Okinawa, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi — under similar measures since early this month, the state of restraint now covers 16 areas, or one-third of the country.
Photo: AFP
While many Japanese adults are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, few have gotten a booster shot, which has been a vital protection from the highly contagious Omicron variant
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare yesterday approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11, who are increasingly vulnerable to infection.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan has resisted the use of lockdowns to limit the spread of the virus and has focused on requiring eateries to close early and not serve alcohol, and on urging the public to wear masks and practice social distancing, as the government seeks to minimize damage to the economy.
Under the latest measure, most eateries are asked to close by 8 or 9pm, while large events can allow full capacity if they have virus prevention plans.
In Tokyo, certified eateries that stop serving alcohol can stay open until 9pm while those serving alcohol must close an hour earlier.
Restaurants that close at 9pm and do not serve alcohol receive ¥30,000 (US$263) per day in government compensation, while those that close at 8pm get ¥25,000 (US$220) per day.
Critics say that the measures, which almost exclusively target bars and restaurants, make little sense and are unfair.
Mitsuru Saga, the manager of a restaurant in downtown Tokyo, said he chose to serve alcohol and close at 8pm, despite receiving less compensation from the government.
“We cannot make business without serving alcohol,” Saga said in an interview with Nippon Television. “It seems only eateries are targeted for restraints.”
After more than two years of repeated restraints and social distancing requests, Japanese are increasingly becoming less cooperative to such measures. People are back to commuting on packed trains and shopping at crowded stores.
Tokyo’s main train station of Shinagawa was packed as usual with commuters rushing to work yesterday morning.
Japan briefly eased border controls in November last year, but quickly reversed them to ban most foreign entrants when the Omicron variant began spreading in other countries.
Japan says it would stick to the stringent border policy through end of next month, as the country tries to reinforce medical systems and treatment.
The tough border controls have triggered criticism from foreign students and academics who say the measures are not scientific.
Some experts question the effectiveness of placing restraints only on eateries, noting that infections in the three prefectures that have already been subjected to the measures for nearly two weeks show no signs of slowing.
Tokyo logged 8,638 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, exceeding the previous record of 7,377 set the day before.
At a Tokyo metropolitan government task force meeting, experts sounded the alarm at the fast-paced upsurge led by omicron.
Japanese Disease Control and Prevention Center Director Norio Ohmagari said Tokyo’s daily new cases might exceed 18,000 within a week if the increase continues at the current pace.
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