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▼ Japan Governors Seek Restraints On Travel In Summer
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The National Governors’ Association at a videoconference Sunday called on the Japanese government to ask the public to avoid summer holiday travel across prefectural borders in principle, including trips to their parents’ homes during the “bon” period, to help prevent a further spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.
“We are at a critical juncture where we must stop the current explosive spread of infections at any cost,” Kamon Iizumi, governor of Tokushima Prefecture, western Japan, and head of the association, said at the start of the videoconference of the group of prefectural governors.
In a set of proposal compiled at the remote meeting, the association cited a rapid resurgence in coronavirus infection cases blamed on the highly contagious delta variant and said that “we must not waste any time in containing the fifth wave of infections” as the flows of people will increase toward the culmination of the summer holiday season.
The group called on the national government to work with prefectural governments on asking citizens to refrain from homecoming travel and trips to and from areas with spikes in coronavirus infections.
In particular, the association urged the state to issue a strong message asking young people to change their behavior at a time when the proportion of youths in overall new infection cases has been rising. The central government was also requested to consider binding measures such as lockdown.
The government should thoroughly control activities of foreign visitors related to the ongoing Tokyo Olympic Games while asking Japanese people to watch the Games on television, the association said.
The state needs to promote vaccinations against the coronavirus by fully utilizing the vaccines from U.S. pharmaceutical companies Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca PLC of Britain, it also said.
The videoconference was attended by 44 governors. “I’m concerned that a medical crisis could hit the entire country unless trips across prefectural borders are reduced,” Tsugumasa Muraoka, governor of the western prefecture of Yamaguchi, said.
Mieko Yoshimura, governor of the northeastern prefecture of Yamagata, asked the government for measures to encourage young people to get vaccinated against the virus, saying that some in the 20s and 30s are opting not to receive vaccine shots.
“We are at a critical juncture where we must stop the current explosive spread of infections at any cost,” Kamon Iizumi, governor of Tokushima Prefecture, western Japan, and head of the association, said at the start of the videoconference of the group of prefectural governors.
In a set of proposal compiled at the remote meeting, the association cited a rapid resurgence in coronavirus infection cases blamed on the highly contagious delta variant and said that “we must not waste any time in containing the fifth wave of infections” as the flows of people will increase toward the culmination of the summer holiday season.
The group called on the national government to work with prefectural governments on asking citizens to refrain from homecoming travel and trips to and from areas with spikes in coronavirus infections.
In particular, the association urged the state to issue a strong message asking young people to change their behavior at a time when the proportion of youths in overall new infection cases has been rising. The central government was also requested to consider binding measures such as lockdown.
The government should thoroughly control activities of foreign visitors related to the ongoing Tokyo Olympic Games while asking Japanese people to watch the Games on television, the association said.
The state needs to promote vaccinations against the coronavirus by fully utilizing the vaccines from U.S. pharmaceutical companies Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca PLC of Britain, it also said.
The videoconference was attended by 44 governors. “I’m concerned that a medical crisis could hit the entire country unless trips across prefectural borders are reduced,” Tsugumasa Muraoka, governor of the western prefecture of Yamaguchi, said.
Mieko Yoshimura, governor of the northeastern prefecture of Yamagata, asked the government for measures to encourage young people to get vaccinated against the virus, saying that some in the 20s and 30s are opting not to receive vaccine shots.
- August 1, 2021
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