The Osaka prefectural government plans to request the central government to declare a state of emergency for the prefecture, Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said Monday, as the rapid increase in novel coronavirus infections has severely strained the medical system.
"I am dealing with it with a keen sense of crisis," Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Monday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo. "We are doing everything we can to secure enough hospital beds."
Whether to declare a state of emergency for the prefecture, Suga merely said, "I will deal with it in close cooperation with Osaka Prefecture."
The daily number of new infection cases in the prefecture continues to mark record highs, hitting 1,220 on Sunday, revealing that the current measures are insufficient in bringing the situation under control.
Emergency-level priority measures are currently in place, such as requesting restaurants and bars in Osaka City to close earlier.
In requesting the declaration of a state of emergency based on the revised special measures law to cope with new strains of influenza, Yoshimura wants to apply the earlier closing times to more business sectors, such as department stores and other large commercial facilities and theme parks.
"Things have been very severe regarding infections, and the medical system is in a critical situation," Yoshimura said to reporters at the Osaka prefectural government building. "I have decided that a request for a state of emergency is necessary."
The final decision on the request will be made at a meeting of the prefectural government's task force on the novel coronavirus, to be held Tuesday.
If the central government makes the declaration, it will be the third pandemic-related state of emergency for Osaka Prefecture, following the first in April and May last year and the second this January and February.
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