Japan Faces Struggle to Contain Virus Spread in Just a Month Bloomberg 1/8/2021 Lisa Du and Gearoid Reidy
(Bloomberg) Japan’s second state of emergency is set to last a month, but public health experts have already expressed doubts that four weeks is enough time to sufficiently slow the coronavirus that’s spreading at an alarming rate.
With residents increasingly facing virus fatigue and no legal framework to force compliance, the country could struggle to quickly turn the trend of infections downward, experts say. Japan has reported new daily infections records for at least two days in the past weeks, with numbers accelerating in the capital of Tokyo. On Friday, Tokyo reported 2,392 confirmed cases, the second highest to date following Thursday’s record.