No.113 Third state of emergency declaration

On April 23, 2021, the government decided to declare a state of emergency in the four prefectures of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Hyogo, and implemented it from April 25, 2021. .

In Tokyo, the first state of emergency was declared for 49 days from April 7, 2020 to May 25, 2020. The second state of emergency was declared for 73 days until March 21, 1948, and this is the third time.
The announcement of this time was sudden, and the city discussed the response on Friday, April 23, 2021, but the details will not be known until late at night, so the following Saturday, April 24, 2021 In addition, we held a city task force using a partial web conference to discuss and decide on the response.

Information on suspensions, postponements, changes, etc. of individual facilities and businesses will be communicated separately through various methods, such as posting on the Inagi City website, distributing information through the Inagi City email distribution service, posting notices at facilities, and individual notifications. I am.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to the public, including closing the general gymnasium and health plaza and canceling the public opening of the Fureai no Mori, but the previous state of emergency was declared on March 21, 2021. Not all businesses have completely returned to normal operations since the lifting of the restrictions, and some have continued to shorten business hours due to gradual relaxation measures, so there are many major changes from before the announcement was made. there is no.

In the first state of emergency last year, we took measures such as temporarily closing elementary and junior high schools and requesting that nursery schools and after-school clubs refrain from attending kindergartens. We plan to continue providing childcare and childcare. In responding to this situation, we will of course comply with the requests from the government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, but we will also take care to minimize the impact on citizens' lives to the extent possible.

The purpose of this state of emergency was to stop the flow of people during Golden Week by requesting a wide range of business closures. As for the period, there are opinions that call for longer measures and opinions that do not want it to be extended any further, but Prime Minister Suga said, ``We will take strong measures to temporarily stop the flow of people as a short-term intensive measure.'' The purpose has been explained.
Japan's current legal system does not allow for strict restrictions on private rights like in Europe and the United States, but the current measures are so strong that they have been called "mini-lockdowns."
What we need to do now, as mutant strains of the new coronavirus are on the rise, is to slow the spread of the virus as much as possible and buy time so we can move forward with the period for full-scale vaccination.

For the citizens, although the second long-standing state of emergency has finally been lifted, the third state of emergency has been declared while we are still in the process of gradually easing measures. I think what happened is regrettable. It seems like things are going backwards, and I feel sorry for that.
We hope that the state of emergency will be lifted by the time you read this column, but we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause residents.
We will do our best to vaccinate our residents so that they can return to the days when they can live healthy and smiling lives as soon as possible, so we ask for your understanding and cooperation.