Coronavirus: Japan declares state of emergency and injects money into its economy

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Faced with the accelerating epidemic in Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has declared a state of emergency in seven regions of the country, including Tokyo, from this Tuesday, April 7, for a period of one month. The government is also launching a major economic recovery plan.

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with our correspondent in Tokyo , Frédéric Charles

Japan has so far followed the very liberal Swedish model, trying to hinder economic activity as little as possible. He relied on the very draconian hygiene habits of the Japanese population.

With 73 deaths and 3,650 people infected with Covid-19, Japan remains less affected than other countries such as France, Switzerland, Italy and the United States. But the Prime Minister is forced today by the media and his experts to declare a state of emergency, especially in Tokyo because the capital is losing control over the progression of the disease.

It is, in spite of everything, a minimum state of emergency that Japan imposes on its population. He does not have the legal power to oblige the Tokyoites to confine themselves or to sanction them if they do not follow the instructions . The government is based on the civic spirit of the Japanese and, even more, on a suffocating social pressure which constitutes a force of massive deterrent.

To support its economy, the government is deploying more than 920 billion euros, the largest recovery plan ever launched so far, equivalent to 20% of its economy.

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• Japan
• Shinzo Abe
• Coronavirus
• Health and Medicine

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