Tokyo reported a daily record of 1,591 on Wednesday coronavirus cases as the national government prepares to declare a state of emergency this week to deal with a new wave of infections. According to the metropolitan government, those in need of critical care in the capital also reached a record number of 113 people.
Toshio Nakagawa, head of the Japan Medical Association, called the situation “ extremely serious, ” but did not criticize Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga for acting too slowly to contain the latest outbreak, as some have suggested.
“Please take this virus seriously, and don’t think it’s just another flu,” Nakagawa said, warning hospital care was getting sparse.
Japan has confirmed more than 250,000 cases, including more than 3,700 deaths.
Photo by KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP via Getty Images
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region:
Thailand plans to expand testing to thousands of factories in a province next to Bangkok, as it reported 365 new cases across the country and one new death on Wednesday. Authorities have focused their efforts on migrant workers, mainly in the fishing industry in Samut Sakhon Province, which was the epicenter of the new outbreak. They are also trying to track down itinerant gamblers who travel extensively and are blamed for a second major hotspot outside of Bangkok. Among the new cases, 250 are transferred locally among Thais and 99 are migrant workers. The rest are foreign arrivals. That brings the total to 9,331, including 66 dead – the last was a long-haul truck driver working from Samut Sakhon. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, a spokesman for the COVID-19 coordination center, said there are plans to test workers at more than 10,000 factories in Samut Sakhon, 100 of which have more than 500 employees each. The government has ordered a partial closure of Thailand, with strict travel restrictions in some areas. Schools, bars, gambling parlors and other public gathering places are closed, although shopping centers, department stores and restaurants remain open with limited hours.
– China’s Hebei is imposing stricter control measures after a further increase in coronavirus cases in the province next to the capital Beijing, where events take place for next year’s Winter Olympics. The National Health Commission reported a further 20 cases in Hebei on Wednesday, bringing the county’s total to 39 since Sunday. The highest provincial official said residents of areas classified as medium or high risk, mainly in the cities of Shijiazhuang and Xingtai, were tested and could not go outside. Those in medium-risk neighborhoods were only able to leave after showing a negative test for the virus. Classes are changing online and school dormitories are closed. A few cases were also reported Wednesday in Beijing and Lioaning and Heilongjiang provinces, where massive testing and limited lockdowns have also been enforced. Liaoning’s provincial capital, Shenyang, has ordered people in 16 districts to stay at home, and anyone who wants to leave the city must submit a negative test within 72 hours of departure, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Wary of a new wave of infections, China is urging migrant workers to stay during the Lunar New Year holiday next month. School classes are being fired early and tourists have been told not to come to Beijing.
– The US Navy in the Pacific has begun administering the first COVID-19 vaccinations to thousands of sailors. It comes a week after medical personnel and strategic forces received their first shots at the Naval Hospital in Yokosuka, Japan, the 7th Fleet said. The fleet includes about 20,000 sailors flying 50-70 ships and submarines and 140 aircraft. The vaccinations are part of a “prioritized, phased approach” by the Department of Defense to “protect our people, keep them ready and support the national COVID-19 response,” the fleet said. Vaccinations are provided on a voluntary basis. Among those vaccinated were sailors aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, the fleet’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier. The Navy has fought with COVID-19, most notably in March aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, where more than 1,200 personnel were infected. After a memo from the ship’s captain warning of the threat was leaked, he was fired by the then Navy secretary, who was subsequently fired himself amid the controversy.
– Sri Lanka police have started to conduct mandatory tests on people who do not wear masks and do not keep social distance in public places, in the final step to contain the coronavirus. Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said the tests are in addition to legal action against those who violate quarantine laws. On Tuesday, police arrested 1,060 people in Colombo and the suburbs and 14 of them tested positive for the virus. Another outbreak occurred in October when two clusters – one centered around a clothing factory and the other in a fish market – sprang up in and around Colombo. The confirmed cases of the two clusters reached 41,955 on Wednesday. Sri Lanka has reported a total of 45,728 cases with 217 fatalities.
Indonesia has recorded 8,854 new cases of coronavirus, another daily record, as President Joko Widodo announced the start of a vaccination program. Widodo said in a televised address that he will receive an injection on Jan. 13 to build confidence in the vaccine. “Next week I will be the first to be vaccinated with the vaccine to show it is safe and halal as the vaccination program begins nationwide,” Widodo said. State-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma began distributing 3 million doses of the vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech in China across the archipelago, home to more than 270 million people. Wednesday’s new cases bring the country’s confirmed total to 788,402, most in Southeast Asia and second in Asia, just for the 10.3 million confirmed cases in India. It has recorded 23,296 deaths. The government’s goal is to vaccinate 70% of the population, or at least 182 million people, with health workers being the top priority.