Tokyo reported 63 new infections on Saturday, a record single-day increase that brought the total toll in the capital to 362. Japan has confirmed 1,525 infections across the country, excluding cases on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama.
A sharp rise in cases this week prompted Yuriko Koike, the city’s governor, to urge residents to stay at home this weekend and warn of a potential lockdown of Tokyo for the first time.
“There is a need for everyone to share a sense of urgency,” said Satoshi Hori, one of Japan’s leading experts on infection control and a professor at Juntendo University. “But people are becoming tired of exercising restraint.”
Mr Kami rejected suggestions the health system was in jeopardy. But he said any lockdown would create deeper turmoil and deal a blow to an economy already on the brink of a technical recession.
“Japan took a rational approach while keeping the number of deaths low,” he said. “Its economy is already weak so it has been difficult to do the kind of lockdown that was carried out in China and the US.”
However, changing the attitudes of the Japanese people after weeks of allowing them to operate in a relatively relaxed environment might not be straightforward.
In a sign of just how hard it could be, ahead of a weekend during which residents of Japan’s biggest cities were asked to not dine out, none other than Akie Abe, the prime minister’s wife, was seen with a group of celebrities at a cherry blossom viewing party at a restaurant in central Tokyo.
