Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has declared a state
of emergency in Tokyo and six other hard-
hit Japanese prefectures to fortify the fight
against the coronavirus outbreak. But this is no
European or Wuhan-style lockdown. A look at
what Japan’s state of emergency entails:
Q. WHY DID ABE DECLARE A STATE
OF EMERGENCY?
A. Abe was facing heavy pressure to declare a
state of emergency after the number of new
cases in Tokyo began doubling every several
days in late March. The city of 14 million had
1,339 cases as of Wednesday, up from about 600
a week earlier. Japan focused on dealing with
clusters of infections and selective testing for the
virus, a strategy that has failed to curb its spread.