A total of 2,297 emergency calls related to the coronavirus were made to Tokyo police during the state of emergency from April 7 through May 25, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Noise-related calls to 110, Japan's emergency number for contacting the police, increased sharply from the previous year as people's living environments changed due to the request to go out less.
The total number of 110 calls in Tokyo during the period was about 182,000, according to the MPD, down 28% from the same period last year. Calls related to the coronavirus reached 218 from January to March, but the number increased sharply after the state of emergency was declared on April 7. The number was 1,242 from April 7 to 30, and 1,055 from May 1 to 25.
There were many complaints, such as "Restaurants are open, not exercising any self-restraint" and requests like "I want the police to give a warning to people who are making noise outside." A ward office called into say, "A person who seems likely to become violent is saying, 'The benefits won't be paid yet?'" regarding the 100,000 yen payment to be made to each person in Japan.
About 28,000 of the 110 calls were about noise, up 54% from the same period in the previous year. The increase appared to be caused by stress stemming from the fact that many people stayed home. A man in his 30s living in an apartment in Adachi Ward, Tokyo, was stabbed with a knife by a man in his 60s who was angry at the noise the young man made in an adjacent room.
The number of traffic accidents in Tokyo during the state of emergency was 2,271, nearly half the 4,136 seen in the same period last year. However the percentage of fatal accidents increased, as the death toll during the state of emergency was 15 -- compared to 16 in the same period last year.
The Metropolitan Police Department is on alert regarding traffic accidents. There have been a number of cases involving bicycle delivery services, for which demand has been growing.
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