Japan widens virus restrictions as omicron surges in cities

Tokyo: Restaurants and bars will close early in Tokyo and a dozen other areas across Japan beginning Friday as Japan widens COVID-19 restrictions due to the omicron variant causing cases to surge to new highs in metropolitan areas.

The restraint, which is something of a pre-state of emergency, is the first since September and is scheduled to last through February 13.

With three other prefectures — Okinawa, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi — under similar measures since early January, the state of restraint now covers 16 areas, or one-third, of the country.

While many Japanese adults are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, few have gotten a booster shot, which has been vital protection from the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Throughout the pandemic, Japan has resisted the use of lockdowns to limit the spread of the virus and has focused on requiring eateries to close early and not serve alcohol, and on urging the public to wear masks and practice social distancing, as the government seeks to minimize damage to the economy. Under the latest measure, most eateries are asked to close by 8 pm, while large events can allow full capacity if they compile anti-virus plans.

Critics say the measures, which almost exclusively target bars and restaurants, make little sense and are unfair.

After more than two years of repeated restraints and social distancing requests, the Japanese are increasingly becoming less cooperative to such measures. People are back to commuting on packed trains and shopping at crowded stores.

Japan briefly eased border controls in November but quickly reversed them to ban most foreign entrants when the omicron variant began spreading in other countries. Japan says it will stick to the stringent border policy through end of February as the country tries to reinforce medical systems and treatment. The tough border controls have triggered criticism from foreign students and scholars who say the measure is not scientific.

Tokyo logged 8,638 new cases of coronavirus infection Thursday, exceeding the previous record of 7,377, set just the day before.

At a Tokyo metropolitan government task force meeting, experts sounded alarms at the fast-paced upsurge led by omicron.

Norio Ohmagari, Director of the Disease Control and Prevention Center of National Center for Global Health and an advisor to the Tokyo metropolitan government panel, said Tokyo’s daily new cases may exceed 18,000 within a week if the increase continues at the current pace. Though only some of the soaring number of infected people are hospitalized and occupying less than one-third of available hospital beds in the Japanese capital, experts say the rapid upsurge of the cases could quickly overwhelm the medical systems once the infections further spread among the elderly population who are more likely to become seriously ill.

Surging infections have already begun to paralyze hospitals, schools, and other sectors in some areas. The ministry has trimmed the required self-isolation period from 14 days to 10 for those who come into close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19, and to seven days for essential workers if they test negative.

While about 80% of Japanese have received their first two vaccine doses, the rollout of booster shots has been slow and has reached only 1.4 percent of the population so far. The health ministry is set to approve inoculation for children aged 5-11 who are now increasingly vulnerable.