Japan has avoided the explosion of cases that its neighbors, China and South Korea, have seen, but cases have been rising in its capital Tokyo.
Residents have been asked to work from home, if possible, and for businesses to be closed in a bid to curb the spread of the virus which has seen a recent spike in cases in parts of the country, including the Japanese capital of Tokyo. The month-long lockdown will be in effect until May 6.
Hospitals in Tokyo have been overloaded with a growing number of cases. Patients with mild or no symptoms were expected to be transferred from hospitals to hotels and other venues to make space for more severe cases, Tokyo's governor, Yuriko Koike, confirmed last week. Urging residents to keep travel outside the city to a minimum, Koike told reporters last week:"It will cause inconvenience in daily life, but I call on everyone to cooperate, because lives are at stake."
Japan has so far managed to avoid the explosion of cases that its neighbors in Asia, China and South Korea, have seen. Japan has reported around 6,750 cases to date, including 108 deaths, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.
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