TOKYO – Quasi-emergency restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19 went into effect in Aichi, Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama on Tuesday, bringing the number of prefectures under the measures to 10.
The quasi-emergency measures will run through May 11 in the cities of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture; Ichikawa, Funabashi, Matsudo, Kashiwa and Urayasu in Chiba Prefecture; Yokohama, Kawasaki and Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture; and Saitama and Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture.
Restaurants and bars will be asked to shutter by 8 p.m., among other requests. Those that will comply with the requests will be given subsidies, while noncompliant establishments could face fines.
Osaka, Hyogo and Miyagi were the first prefectures to be placed under the measures last April 5, with Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa being added a week after. - Florenda Corpuz
