Japan mulls recording virus outbreak as historic emergency

March 6, 2020

Tokyo--The Japanese government is considering designating the outbreak of the new coronavirus as a historic emergency that requires it to record its response, Seigo Kitamura, minister in charge of public records, said Friday.

The designation will make it mandatory for the government to record dates of related meetings, who attended the meetings, the participants' remarks and documents adopted at the meetings.

At a press conference, Kitamura did not clarify when the designation will be made.

A decision on whether to designate the outbreak "should be made after its impact on society and lessons from it become clearer," he said.

The system of historic emergency designation was introduced in 2012, after the government's failure to make minutes of its meetings held in response to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. No such designation has happened so far.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government will consider designating the outbreak as a historic emergency. Jiji Press