Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, is not declaring any state of national emergency on COVID-19. (Image via Euronews)

Will Abe declare a national emergency on COVID-19?

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Politics & Economic
News Flash Japan
Mar 14, 2020
1920
On Friday, a revised law had been passed, meaning that the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, can now declare a state of emergency for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. However, the question is, “will Abe?”

The Japanese government decided to review the 2013 law on new types of influenza and infectious diseases, including the novel coronavirus in it. The virus was first detected in Wuhan, Hubei Province, Central China, at the end of December 2019.

Do not have to hold your breath. Abe and other government officials signify that such a declaration is not imminent. The state of national emergency is seen as a last resort, said Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan’s economy minister in charge of the legal revision. For Nishimura, the efforts taken under the national emergency status will restrict people’s rights.

The Japanese government said that the country only enters a state of emergency if the medical care reaches its limit and critical and immediate measures should be taken to ensure continuity. In other words, if Japan wants to declare a state of national emergency, the Health Minister should report to the PM that the outbreak is feared to go out of control.

Even with the law, Abe does not possess the authority to declare the status all on his own. He is required to seek input from a panel of medicine and public health experts on whether Japan should declare the status or not.

If yes, then the PM will determine which areas and the period of the status. The status then will be notified to the parliament. The prefectural government then will determine a set of actions taken to contain the virus.

Four months away, the Land of the Rising Sun is the host of the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Therefore, Japan is desperate to contain the outbreak from spreading any further. Yet, the number of confirmed cases reached 1,400, 700 from the quarantined Diamond Princess. While the mortality rate is still low, it is too early to relax.

Hokkaido has already declared a state of emergency from 28 February to 19 March. By the status, Hokkaido requires its residents to stay indoors.

Source: https://bit.ly/3aO47YK

Politics , Regulation , Law , Legal , Medical , Health , Disease , Pulmonary , Pneumonia , Coronavirus , COVID-19 , Asia , Japan , Shinzo-Abe