Abe Voices Intent to Declare Virus Emergency on Tues.

April 6, 2020

Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his intention on Monday to declare a state of emergency on Tuesday in a bid to contain the new coronavirus outbreak in Japan, informed sources said.

Abe unveiled the plan at an executive meeting of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the sources said.

"I will declare a state of emergency as early as tomorrow," he told reporters later. "There is no plan for a city lockdown," he added.

The prime minister said the state of emergency will cover Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka prefectures for about a month.

He will issue such a declaration under the special law on the fight against new strains of influenza that was recently revised to cover the coronavirus. Jiji Press