Weekly Update: News on Japan & the Netherlands – Week 18, 2020

There is no lockdown in Japan, and some businesses and restaurants remain open, though the usually jam-packed commuter trains and streets of Tokyo are less crowded.

He said they are among more than 70 countries that have requested a supply of Avigan that the Japanese government has offered to provide for free. Motegi said recipient countries will send clinical trial data to Japan.

He stressed that it’s crucial to develop curative drugs to contain the pandemic. He said he will push ahead with public-private partnerships and international cooperation to promote development of medicines to treat the virus.

Abe’s remarks came after education minister Koichi Hagiuda said on Tuesday that September enrollment is an option. Ruling coalition officials are cautious about an opposition party proposal to delay the start of the school year, normally in April, to September amid school closures due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Dentists, who do not have physician’s licenses, are to be required to take relevant training, including that for collecting samples from patients’ noses and throats, before going on duty. Patients’ consent is also required.

Up to about 8,800 PCR tests were carried out per day in Japan in mid-April. The figure is about four times the number from a month earlier, and is likely to rise.

The ministry says some local governments have already asked about the approval of the scheme. Expert panels under local governments and medical associations are expected to discuss the need for the measure and how to implement it.

The continued operation of some noisy gambling halls is a conspicuous reminder of the limits of Japanese government’s ability to lock down cities with requests rather than orders backed up with fines.

Japan has shied away from stronger enforcement steps in part because of memories of civil rights abuses during World War Two, and protection of such rights are enshrined in Japan’s U.S.-drafted post-war constitution.

Pachinko parlors, where players sit back-to-back at long rows of machines with bouncing steel balls and garish lights, are a common sight in Japan and easy for health officials to identify.

“They are big, and we know were they are. When it comes to bars and restaurants that are still operating, however, finding them is more difficult,” said the Osaka Prefecture spokesman.

Osaka’s methods were followed by Hyogo Prefecture, with other prefectures now also taking similar name-and-shame measures.

In Tokyo, as of Sunday 26 April, 156 out of roughly 600 pachinko parlors still remained open, but the number dropped to 22 on Monday, with all agreeing to comply on Tuesday, after 60 metropolitan government officials in 15 teams directly visited noncompliant businesses and requested they close, said Governor Yuriko Koike.

But after media investigations revealed some parlors were still open as of Tuesday afternoon, the metropolitan government amended its statement.

The city will deliver a written closure request to those businesses and is expected to publicize the names of those who are noncompliant after Wednesday.

Another 249 companies fired more than 30 employees from January to March for financial reasons, for a total of 9,620 lost jobs.

The firms include 113 manufacturers, 54 wholesalers and retailers, 16 hotels and restaurants and 15 medical care and welfare service firms.

No major policy changes are expected afterwards, the sources say. No press conference has been announced either.The ban on contact professions is valid until 20 May.

If possible, this should be withdrawn sooner, the House thinks. Virologist Jaap van Dissel of RIVM said last week that protective equipment, such as mouth masks, could play a role in an exit strategy.

The deal, which has yet to be approved by competition authorities, includes conditions in return for the handout. KLM will not be able to pay dividends or award bonuses for as long as it receives state support and workers will have to take a pay cut, according to a statement.

The airline will also have to adopt a greener approach, for example, by cutting back the number of night flights.

At a press conference on Friday, Minister Hoekstra repeatedly emphasized the great importance of the airline to our economy. According to the cabinet, this justifies the financial support to KLM with 2 to 4 billion euros in guarantees and loans.

Airlines also started distributing vouchers to passengers whose flights have been canceled. However, these are not covered by the guarantee fund. According to the minister, in the case of Air France-KLM, the parent company of KLM, these are vouchers worth of about 3 billion euros that have already been issued.

Although according to European law,passengers are entitled to a refund when a flight is canceled, Minister van Nieuwenhuizen says the vouchers should prevent airlines from going bankrupt. But if they still do go bankrupt, this does mean that customers who received a voucher will be left empty-handed.

According to Van Nieuwenhuizen, other European companies have also issued the vouchers.

The conditions remain the same: entrepreneurs must expect a loss of turnover of at least 4,000 euros in three months and have fixed costs for the same amount.