Shinzo Abe declares state of emergency

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday declared a month-long state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures in an effort to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

The declaration will come into effect on Wednesday, reports Xinhua news agency. Specifically, it covers the capital and other major prefectures including Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka. The declaration will give prefectural governors more power to take preventative measures to curb the continued spread of the virus, the cases of which have been steadily increasing, particularly in urban areas. The development comes as Japan has recorded 3,906 coronavirus cases, with 92 deaths.