Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has instructed Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Norihisa Tamura and other related ministers to strengthen coronavirus countermeasures amid a surge in cases.
The government will dispatch more public health workers to areas where virus cases are rising if local public health facilities are facing staff shortages, with the number of available personnel to be increased from 600 to 1,200.
"The next three-week-period is crucial. Wear masks, wash your hands and avoid the Three C's [closed spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings]. Please cooperate in taking basic measures to prevent the spread of infections," Suga said in a public address at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday. " Let's overcome this together."
An increasing number of prefectural governments have asked restaurants and bars in cities with high numbers of infections to shorten opening hours.
"The central government would like to firmly support all businesses that have cooperated by shortening opening hours," the prime minister said.
A government subcommittee on coronavirus measures has proposed a temporary suspension of Go To Travel tourism campaign benefits for people traveling from areas where infections are spreading rapidly, in addition to the existing suspension for trips to such areas.
Economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said at a press conference on Thursday, "I will coordinate with the Japan Tourism Agency and consider what measures can be taken."
On Thursday, 2,504 new cases of novel coronavirus infections were confirmed nationwide, excluding Yamanashi and Kochi prefectures. It was the first time in four days daily confirmed cases exceeded 2,000.
A total of 29 deaths were reported, including 12 in Osaka Prefecture, 7 in Hokkaido, and 3 each in Tokyo and Kanagawa. According to the health ministry, the number of seriously ill patients increased by 34 from the previous day to 410, exceeding 400 for the first time.
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