Japan to relax curbs even as virus spreads

The Japanese government is considering relaxing restrictions on social and economic activities despite few signs that the country has turned the corner in the battle against the novel coronavirus.

But Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan's minister in charge of the coronavirus response, said on Tuesday that the government will hear experts' opinions every week to consider whether to lift the state of emergency in the country.

Nishimura made the remarks after speaking with leaders of major Japanese business organizations and representatives of prefectural governors.

"I will hear experts' opinions on May 14 and 21 to decide whether the state of emergency can be lifted, or restrictions on social and economic activities can be relaxed for each prefecture," he said.

According to Nishimura, the decision will be based on a series of criteria including the number of recent infections, the state of the local health system and the number of virus tests done.

After Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency in April and decided to extend it to the end of May, the Japanese economy has been hit hard by the stay-at-home ruling and business closures.

A survey by Tokyo Shoko Research, a credit reporting agency, showed that the number of bankruptcies linked to the virus totaled 114 by Friday, a sharp rise from 25 at the end of March.

To counter the effect of the restrictions, Tokyo, the capital city, which had 4,712 infections, the most cases in Japan and nearly triple the number of second-placed Osaka, decided to give more financial aid to small and medium-sized businesses that agreed to suspend operations until the end of May.

Financial aid

The size of the subsidies will be similar to what had been decided before the extension of the state of emergency, which involves payouts of 500,000 yen ($4,704) to business owners with a single shop and 1 million yen to those running multiple outlets, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said.

In order to make companies implement teleworking and flexible commuting hours as much as possible, the governor said: "The next one month will have life-or-death importance. … If we let up now, all the efforts that we have made until now will be meaningless. I ask for support and understanding."

Japan's cases hit 15,477 including 577 deaths, with 105 new infections reported on Wednesday.