TOKYO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese government panel said on Thursday that there is a high likelihood the spread of COVID-19 infections will become "rampant" in the country, with the panel's judgement a prerequisite for the launch of a national headquarters tasked with combating the virus based on revised legislation.
The launch of the new national headquarters following the revision of a law earlier this month, enables Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe to declare a state of emergency if necessary to bolster measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus, as the number of pneumonia-causing infections continue to rise nationwide.
Prior to a state of emergency being declared over the virus, however, the prime minister will have to seek the opinions from an advisory panel comprised of medical experts and the level of emergency will have to meet specific criteria.
The first being that the outbreak of the virus be deemed serious enough to result in extreme damage being caused to people's lives and health, and the second being that the rapid spread of the virus threatens to have a serious impact on people's livelihoods and the country's economy.
If a state of emergency were to be declared by Abe, the government would have extended powers to instruct people to stay at home on a regional or national basis, issue closures to schools, and restrict the use of locations that facilitate large groups of people gathering together or cancel large scale events all together.
The government would also have the authority to demand that supplies deemed essential to combating the spread of the virus be sold to them or requisitioned, and be able to temporarily commandeer private land or facilities for the purposes of providing medical care.
But Japan's top government spokesperson on Thursday said that a state of emergency being declared would only happen in the worst-case scenario and that Japan's situation currently does not necessitate it.
"A state of emergency declaration would have a grave impact on people's everyday life so the government needs to carefully make a judgement based on various expert views," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference on the matter.
The new national headquarters, headed by Abe, will, henceforth, compile a basic policy on the government's response to the ongoing pandemic.
Its members convened for their first task force meeting on Thursday afternoon, prior to Japan's health ministry and local governments announcing in the evening that 47 new COVID-19 infections were confirmed in Tokyo, marking a new record in daily infections in the capital and bringing the nationwide total to 1,373 recorded cases as of 6:30 p.m. local time.
The death toll in Japan from the pneumonia-causing virus currently stands at a total of 56 people, according to the health ministry, with the figure including those from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama, close to Tokyo.
Of the 1,373 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan, the majority are still in Japan's capital city of Tokyo, which has confirmed 259 cases.
On Wednesday, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike requested that people in Tokyo stay at home this weekend, following 41 new cases of the virus were recorded in the capital the day before, which was more than double its previous daily record of 17.
Prior to that, on Tuesday, Tokyo overtook Hokkaido as the prefecture with the most cases of COVID-19 infections in the country.
"Tokyo is facing an important phase in preventing an explosive rise in the number of infections," Koike told a press conference on the matter recently, also calling on those in Tokyo to work at home and avoid going out in the evenings.
Concerns have also spread to Tokyo's surrounding prefectures, with local governments requesting people not to travel to the capital over this weekend, which coincides with the would-be peak of cherry blossom viewing this season and "hanami" parties being held across the region.
Meanwhile, according to the latest data Thursday evening, Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido has recorded 168 COVID-19 cases, Aichi Prefecture 154, while Osaka Prefecture has confirmed 149 COVID-19 infections, health ministry and local authorities said, with experts also warning of rising cases with untraceable transmission routes.
