Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures on Wednesday expanded the areas covered by emergency-level priority measures to 36 municipalities, in a bid to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
The three prefectures neighboring Tokyo are calling for restaurants and bars in the specified areas to close at 8 p.m. and stop serving alcohol through May 11. Department stores and other large-scale facilities that attract many customers are being asked to limit the number of people who enter.
The three prefectures issued measures for 10 cities on April 20 and are expanding the scope of areas covered ahead of the Golden Week holidays to deter people from Tokyo, where a state of emergency has been declared, from traveling to the prefectures.
Establishments that stop serving alcoholic beverages will be compensated based on past sales and the size of the business.
In line with the expansion of the measures, the three prefectural governments are asking people not to travel to their prefectures and will cooperate with municipalities to strengthen patrols at eateries. Inspections are being carried out at about 15,500 establishments in Saitama Prefecture and 26,000 in Chiba Prefecture. Kanagawa Prefecture has called on people to refrain from eating and drinking on streets and in parks.
At Zaimokuza Beach in newly included Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, workers set up signboards requesting people not to enter the area. The prefecture will install 400 such signboards at some beaches and put up barricades along parts of rivers to discourage people from gathering.
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