Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is preparing to declare modern Japan’s first-ever state of emergency in response to a sudden increase in novel coronavirus cases in the capital, Tokyo, and several of the country’s other major cities.
Abe said Monday that he would issue the declaration as early as Tuesday to cover Tokyo, as well as nearby Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures and Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka.
The declaration, which falls under a law revised just last month in response to the pandemic, would allow governors of hard-hit prefectures to issue stay-at-home directives to contain the spread of the potentially deadly disease.
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