Japan PM Shinzo Abe declares state of emergency over coronavirus

TOKYO - Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday (April 7) declared a month-long state of emergency in Tokyo and six other parts of the country over a spike in coronavirus cases.

"As I decided that a situation feared to gravely affect people's lives and the economy has occurred... I am declaring a state of emergency," Mr Abe said.

The measure falls short of the strict lockdowns seen in other parts of the world but empowers local governors to urge people to stay inside and to call for businesses to close.

His Cabinet will also finalise a stimulus package worth 108 trillion yen (S$1.4 trillion) – equal to 20 per cent of Japan’s economic output - to cushion the impact of the epidemic on the world’s third-largest economy.

That exceeds the 11 per cent of US output for the stimulus package laid out by President Donald Trump and 5 per cent of output for Germany’s package.

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