The government has decided to provide financial assistance to municipalities that issue "cooperation funds" to local restaurants, bars and others in exchange for requesting them to reduce business hours, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Monday at a meeting of the government's novel coronavirus task force.
The assistance is planned to encourage local governments to take appropriate measures in response to the novel coronavirus, which is once again spreading nationwide.
Specifically, the government will allocate special subsidies to local governments for regional revitalization when they decide to request a reduction in business hours in certain areas or industries, and pay cooperation funds to those that respond. To fund the assistance, the government will set up an additional 50 billion yen quota in the special subsidy scheme.
Meanwhile, the task force will ask prefectural governors, in areas where the infection is spreading, to consider restrictions on the application of the "Go To Eat" campaign.
The campaign grants points -- which are valid at registered restaurants -- to users, but Suga cited examples of several exemptions, including cases in which there were five or more users.
Also, the government has secured about 600 doctors and public health nurses who can be dispatched to local
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