Pedestrians wearing protective face masks, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), walk on the crossing at Shibuya shopping and amusement district in Tokyo, Japan March 31, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
Japan will not hesitate to declare a state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic if there is any sign of an explosive spike in infections, Japan’s Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said.
"We’ve been saying that we are on the brink of the brink, but it’s becoming a very tense situation,” Nishimura said during a Fuji Television broadcast Sunday.
"Nationwide rampancy of virus infections is really approaching just right now.”
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has come under increasing pressure to declare a state of emergency to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Tokyo reported more than 110 new coronavirus cases Saturday, the first time the daily toll of confirmed infections has exceeded 100, national broadcaster NHK reported.
The were 336 new cases nationwide, the health ministry said.
Hiroshi Mikitani, founder of Japan’s e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc., on Friday joined the call for Abe to declare a state of emergency.
The prime minister told parliament Friday that the situation didn’t yet warrant an emergency declaration, but said he wouldn’t hesitate to do so when the time comes.
