Japan: Covid-19 and snowfall disrupt New Year's festivities
Heavy snowfall, allied to a record number of Covid-19 contaminations, disrupt the New Year's festivities in Japan.
Here, Nagoya Castle, December 31, 2020. REUTERS - KYODO
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A record of coronavirus contaminations in Tokyo and abundant snowfall paralyzing the rest of the archipelago are disrupting New Year's festivities in Japan.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga warns that a state of emergency may be needed in the Japanese capital amid a rise in infections stronger than those of spring and summer.
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With our correspondent in Tokyo,
Frédéric Charles
The Japanese seem to be as worried about snowfall - over a meter of it has already fallen in some areas - as about an alarming upsurge in Covid-19 cases.
In Tokyo, Governor Yuriko Koike says she fears an “
explosion
” of new contaminations.
For the first time, this December 31, the threshold of 1,000 infections is exceeded in the capital.
The governor urges Tokyoites not to visit their Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines as we enter the New Year.
The New Year is a religious holiday in Japan.
Usually, three quarters of the Japanese - there are 126 million - go there to invoke their gods.
This
third wave
of contamination is stronger than the previous ones.
Hospitals are at the limit of their capacity.
Some cities call on military medical personnel.
Like his predecessor, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is accused
of prioritizing the economy
at the risk of compromising the health of the population.
And the vaccinations won't start until early March.
Yet Japan has better mastered the pandemic than other countries with less than 3,500 deaths since January 2020.
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