Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Jan. 13 announces that seven prefectures are being added to the state of emergency to deal with the novel coronavirus pandemic. (Kotaro Ebara)
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, again swayed by unfavorable public opinion polls, placed Fukuoka Prefecture under the state of emergency for the novel coronavirus even though the governor said it was not necessary, sources said.
Unlike the other six prefectures that were added to the state of emergency list on Jan. 13, Fukuoka officials never requested that their jurisdiction be included.
In fact, the sources said that Fukuoka Governor Hiroshi Ogawa specifically told Yasutoshi Nishimura, the state minister in charge of economic revitalization who also heads the central government’s effort to deal with the COVID-19 crisis, that there was no need to include Fukuoka during two phone calls on Jan. 12.