Covid on rise:Japan urges 'quiet' year-end

Japan’s government urged people on Friday to spend a “quiet” year-end after daily Coronavirus cases are rising rapidly, but said it would keep providing subsidies to promote tourism despite media reports that it may pause the campaign. According to the Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato the reports are not true, we will continue to operate it in an appropriate way, striving to prevent infections spreading. New coronavirus infections in Japan reached 2,848 cases on Thursday, the most in a single day since the pandemic began. “It’s important that citizens cooperate a little by spending a quiet year-end and New Year.” Kato said.

Prime Minister Yoshihida Suga government has so far defended the subsidies as necessary to keep hotels and airlines in business and revive an economy hurt by a pandemic that has kept people at home. His government this week announced a fresh $708 billion economic stimulus package, said on Friday it will also use 385.6 billion yen ($3.7 billion) of emergency budget reserves to fund a shortfall in the travel campaign, which is set to run until the end of June.

Japan won’t begin mass inoculations against the virus until next year at the earliest. It has ordered 290 million vaccine doses from Pfizer Inc, AstraZeneca Plc and Moderna Inc and plans to buy 10,500 deep freezers to store them in.