One day after the government expanded a state of emergency to cover all prefectures on Thursday, following the rise in coronavirus infections, people in the newly affected areas expressed understanding of the need to strengthen measures while business operators expressed concern over losing customers.
Boards of education, which had just resumed classes, began to consider suspending them again.
Aichi Prefecture has been designated as one of the "specific warning prefectures" where focused countermeasures are necessary to prevent the spread of infections.
At Nagoya Station, signboards notifying of temporary closures and shorter business hours were spotted at restaurants and souvenir shops, and commuters wearing protective masks rushed to and fro.
A civil servant in Nishi Ward who was on her way to work said, "It's extraordinary to see shops closing one after another day by day, and I feel a sense of crisis."
She said she supported the government's declaration of a nationwide state of emergency. "It's good because more people will not go out. I'll spend more time at home," she said.
According to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey, as of Friday morning, newly affected prefectures Yamagata, Gifu and Kyoto said they would ask restaurants and bars to exercise some sort of voluntary restraint, such as shortening their business hours.
However, seven prefectures, including Okayama, Tottori and Miyazaki, said they would not ask restaurants to refrain at the moment.
Japan Airlines on Friday reduced its domestic check-in counters by half at Haneda Airport in response to drastic cuts to flights due to the coronavirus.
At the departure area in Terminal 1, it closed the counters in the North Wing, which was used for flights to Hokkaido and the Tohoku region. Of the six safety inspection areas, two were closed, and all the lights on flight information boards were turned off.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
