The government was set to temporarily exclude trips to Tokyo and Nagoya from its Go To Travel tourism promotion campaign, sources said Monday, due to the recent surge there in infections with the novel coronavirus.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga held talks with Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Norihisa Tamura, among others, at the Prime Minister's Office. In response to the resurgence in infections, they are believed to have discussed such matters as how to review travel and ask restaurants to shorten their business hours.
Regarding travel to and from Tokyo, the government had stopped short of suspending the Go To Travel campaign for the capital, only requesting restraint from people aged 65 or older, who are likely to develop severe symptoms if they contract the virus, and from people with diabetes and other preexisting conditions.
However, the virus has continued to spread, with the number of newly confirmed infections reaching a record-high 621 in Tokyo on Saturday. The Tokyo metropolitan government has called on the central government to take action, as it wants to extend the period of voluntary restraint to Jan. 11 from the initial ending date of Dec. 17, and expand the request for restraint to all age groups.
The metropolitan government also intends to extend its request for restaurants and other types of eateries in Tokyo to shorten their business hours to Jan. 11 from Dec. 17.
The metropolitan government has asked restaurants and karaoke bars serving alcohol in Tokyo's 23 wards and in the Tama area to close by 10 p.m. It is working out the details of additional financial aid for businesses that comply with the request.
Regarding the exclusion of travel to Nagoya from the Go To Travel campaign, Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura said the prefectural government was coordinating with the central government on the matter.
"We've reached the stage at which we must ask for [the exclusion]," Omura said at a press conference on Monday morning.
The central and prefectural governments are considering suspending the campaign for trips to Nagoya from Wednesday to Dec. 27. The exclusion of travel to Osaka City and Sapporo is expected to be extended beyond the initial end date of Tuesday.
On Friday, the government task force's subcommittee on the coronavirus proposed that both the tourism promotion campaign and the Go To Eat program, which is intended to support the restaurant industry, continue to be suspended in areas where the infection status is at Stage 3 among the four-level criteria. The subcommittee said the suspension should continue until an area's status is lowered to Stage 2.
Subcommittee chair Shigeru Omi said Sapporo, Tokyo's 23 wards and Osaka City are among the areas at Stage 3.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
