News COVID-19 (April 8)

Headline today is of course the state-of-emergency declaration. We share here some more details.

-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared on Tuesday a state of emergency for Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka, effective through May 6.
Roughly 56 million people, or about 45 percent of the country’s total population, will be asked to refrain from nonessential outings. Grocery shopping, visits to hospitals and commuting are excluded. Public transportation services will be available, although Abe asked citizens in the designated prefectures to hold off on going to other parts of the country.
“The declaration does not at all mean we will carry out lockdowns similar to those overseas,” Abe said. (April 7, Kyodo News)

-Japan approves nearly $1 trillion package to cushion coronavirus impact
Overview:
Under the 108 trillion yen ($990 billion) package, the government:
— provides 300,000 yen in cash for households whose incomes have more than halved or plunged to a resident tax-exempted level.
— gives families receiving child allowances an additional 10,000 yen per child.
— provides subsidies of up to 2 million yen to small business owners and medium-sized companies whose earnings have dropped by half or more.
— fully exempts firms whose sales have fallen over 50 percent from paying taxes such as consumption and property taxes.
— triples the national stockpile of the antivirus drug Avigan, seen as effective in treating COVID-19, to treat two million people.
(April 7, Kyodo News)

-Tokyo to ask shopping malls, leisure facilities, pubs to close (April 7, The Asahi Shimbun)

-Trains to run as usual, some retailers to shorten hours during state of emergency despite coronavirus emergency declaration (April 7, Kyodo News)

-Wuhan’s lockdown lifted as China confident in curbing virus spread (April 8, Kyodo News)

For updated information we advise you to regularly check these links.
We also want to remind you that you can share your questions, comments with the BLCCJ community through our LinkedIn Group and Facebook page.

The BLCCJ office