Govt. To Focus On Areas With Surging Cases
Japan's minister in charge of the coronavirus response says the government will take all possible measures in areas where infections are surging.
Economic Revitalization Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi said on an NHK program on Sunday that the government is responding with a strong sense of urgency as the country's daily new cases continue to hit record levels.
He said the governors in these areas share this sense of crisis, and they have been working closely together over the weekend to step up countermeasures.
Nishimura added that the government will particularly focus on Hokkaido, the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Kansai and Chubu regions.
A government advisory panel says these areas need to impose a Stage 3 alert, the second-highest level on the four-tier system to measure the strain on hospitals. Stage 3 means medical care systems could be greatly disrupted.
