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Tag: Japanese Prime Minister

  • 34 crew have virus on cruise ship docked for repairs in Japan

    At least 34 crew members aboard a cruise ship docked in the Japanese city of Nagasaki have tested positive for Coronavirus, local authorities said on Wednesday.

    The Costa Atlantica first arrived in Nagasaki in January to undergo repairs, with top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga saying roughly 600 crew are on board.

    Over the weekend, the ship’s operator contacted local authorities seeking help to test suspected cases on board.

    An initial four tests carried out on the ship revealed a first infection on Monday, with additional testing among 57 crew finding a total of 34 cases by Wednesday.

    “Many infections have been confirmed on the ship,” Nagasaki governor Hodo Nakamura told reporters on Wednesday.

    “We hope that they will be able to go home in full health as soon as possible. We are asking the national government for help.”

    Nakamura said those infected and other crew members remain on the vessel, adding that its Italian operator has told local officials that crew members are self-isolating.

    But at least 130 are on duty to maintain the ship’s basic functions, Nagasaki officials added.

    Japanese officials have not yet been on board, with testing carried out by medical personnel among the ship’s crew using kits supplied by local medical facilities.

    More planning time, equipment and trained personnel were required before they could board the ship, officials said.

    The prospect of a big infection cluster on the ship comes months after Japan dealt with a massive outbreak on the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship that docked in Yokohama after a former passenger tested positive.

    Japanese officials opted to carry out a much-criticised onboard quarantine that they argued would limit infections, but more than 700 people ultimately contracted the virus and 13 died.

    – More testing expected –

    Nagasaki officials said no one on board the Costa Atlantica was believed to be in serious condition so far.

    Some are believed to have moved around inside Nagasaki city in recent weeks, including those returned home and new crews joining the ship.

    “We have not yet decided exactly how many and how we will administer PCR tests (to detect the infections),” said Katsumi Nakata, chief of the regional government’s health and welfare department.

    “We have to be careful and do it gradually. We have to be fully protected (to take samples from crew members) when we have so many people.”

    Local officials, citing limited resources, said they may seek help from neighbouring regions if many crew members become severely ill and require hospitalisation.

    Motoi Suzuki of Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases said it was “unrealistic” to test the entire crew at once and called for calm.

    Overall, Japan has seen a relatively small outbreak compared to parts of Europe or the United States, with around 11,500 infections and 277 deaths recorded so far.

    But a recent jump in infections has caused concern, put pressure on local healthcare facilities and prompted the government to declare a month-long state of emergency that will run until May 6.

    Source: AFP

  • Japan expected to declare state of emergency over coronavirus

    Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, will declare a state of emergency as early as Tuesday in a bid to stop the coronavirus spreading across the country, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, as the cumulative number of infections topped 1,000 in Tokyo alone.

    Abe will likely announce his plans to declare the emergency on Monday, the paper said, while Kyodo news agency said new measures would likely come into force on Wednesday.

    Pressure had been mounting on the government to make the move as the pace of infections continues to accelerate particularly in the capital even though it remains slow for now compared with the United States, countries in Europe and China, where thousands have died.

    Sounding alarm over the high rate of cases that couldn’t be traced, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike indicated last week that she would favour a state-of-emergency declaration as a means to help her urge residents to adhere to stronger social-distancing measures.

    Under a law revised in March to cover the coronavirus, the prime minister can declare a state of emergency if the disease poses a “grave danger” to lives and if its rapid spread could have a huge impact on the economy.

    Japan’s top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, said on Monday that a decision had yet to be made.

    Declaring an emergency would give governors in severely affected regions legal authority to call on people to stay home and businesses to close, but not to impose the kind of lockdowns seen in other countries. In most cases, there are no penalties for ignoring requests, and enforcement will rely more on peer pressure and respect for authority.

    The government is likely to designate the greater Tokyo metropolitan area for the state of emergency, and possibly also Osaka and Hyogo prefectures in western Japan, the Yomiuri reported.

    More than 3,500 people have tested positive and 85 have died in Japan from the COVID-19 disease associated with new coronavirus, according to public broadcaster NHK.

    While that toll is dwarfed by 335,000 infections and more than 9,500 deaths in the United States alone, experts worry a sudden surge could strain Japan’s medical system and leave patients with nowhere to go.

    ‘Too late’

    Kenji Shibuya, director of the Institute for Public Health at King’s College, London, said Abe’s decision on a state of emergency was too late given the explosive rise in Tokyo.

    “It should have been declared by April 1 at the latest,” he said.

    Abe must seek formal advice from a panel of experts before deciding to go ahead and declare a state of emergency. One medical professional on the panel has said a decision to do so was “complex”, involving political, economic and other factors.

    The government’s coronavirus task force a separate entity from the panel of experts is scheduled to hold a meeting on Monday evening. Government spokesman Suga said he was not aware of any meeting with the advisory panel of experts itself on Monday.

    Governors in Tokyo and elsewhere have previously asked citizens to stay home on weekends, avoid crowds and evening outings, and work from home. That had some effect, but less than many experts said was needed.

    Restricting movement and businesses under a state of emergency would deal a heavy blow to an economy already struggling to avoid a recession. The government is readying a stimulus package of hundreds of billions of dollars to be rolled out this week.

    Source: France24

  • Cabinet reshuffle: Julian Smith and Andrea Leadsom out

    Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith and Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom are the first casualties as Boris Johnson begins a cabinet reshuffle.

    Mr Smith was the first senior minister to be sacked – he was in his cabinet role for 204 days.

    Esther McVey is also out as housing minister as the prime minister re-jigs his top team.

    Most of the cabinet were appointed when Mr Johnson became prime minister in July.

    Arlene Foster, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, paid tribute to Mr Smith following his sacking, saying his dedication to the role had been “incredible”.

    She tweeted: “Spoke with JulianSmithUK a short time ago to thank him for his help in getting devolution restored. We may not have always agreed (we did sometimes) but his dedication to the role was incredible. Best wishes to him and his family. Always welcome in Fermanagh.”

    The prime minister left his cabinet largely untouched following his party’s decisive election victory in December, pending what sources suggested at the time would be a more significant overhaul after the UK left the EU on 31 January.

    A Downing Street source told the BBC the PM would “reward those MPs who have worked hard to deliver on this government’s priorities to level up the whole country and deliver the change people voted for last year”.

    Senior figures such as Chancellor Sajid Javid, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Home Secretary Priti Patel are not expected to be moved, but others are considered more vulnerable.

    Mr Johnson is expected to make changes at junior ministerial level – namely parliamentary under-secretaries of state – that could see a 50/50 gender balance in a push to promote female talent.

    There is also a plan to make at least 60% of parliamentary private secretaries women by the summer – compared with just 18% at the moment.

    Source: bbc.com