The Japanese government is ready to declare a state of emergency for the Tokyo area until August 22, in the midst of a new wave of infections, casting a shadow over the Olympic Games, scheduled for July 23 to August 8. Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is managing the government’s response to the coronavirus, said the state of emergency will begin on July 12. The Tokyo department has recorded 920 new cases of Covid in the last 24 hours, a record for almost two months.
South Korea fears fourth wave
South Korea has recorded 1,275 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, surpassing the previous record of 1,240 cases recorded at the peak of the national pandemic crisis last December. The daily toll has thus exceeded a thousand cases for the second consecutive day, despite the progress of the vaccination campaign and a new extension of the distancing measures in the Seoul area. The South Korean authorities now fear that the last few days will mark the beginning of a fourth pandemic wave in the country. The latest toll brings the total of infections since the beginning of the pandemic to 164,028.
This is almost double the jump from the roughly 740 cases recorded daily earlier this week. South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said the measures currently in place in the Greater Seoul area, including early restaurant closures and a ban on gathering more than five people, will remain in place at least one other. week, and did not rule out the launch of further measures aimed at limiting infections especially among people aged between 20 and 40 years. (Git)
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