TOKYO (JAPAN) – Japanese should spend a quiet year-end in the wake of pandemic cases hitting a record high, said the government on Friday. However, there would be subsidies to boost tourism despite reports in local media that the government might halt the campaign.
“The reports are not true, we will continue to operate it in an appropriate way, striving to prevent infections spreading,” said the spokesman of the government Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato.
On Thursday, the new infections surged to 2,848, the highest single-day cases since the outbreak of the virus.
There were media reports that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government was considering pausing the “Go To Travel” campaign for around two months and into the New Year as the public opinion favoured halting the programme.
The government has always supported the subsidies in a bid to keep hotels and airlines operating and bolster the sagging economy.
This week, the government announced a fresh $708 billion economic stimulus package and it will roll out 385.6 billion yen ($3.7 billion) of emergency budget reserves to fund a shortfall in the travel campaign.
According to a report from researchers at the University of Tokyo and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), there was a higher incidence of coronavirus symptoms among the public who take part in the campaign targeting domestic travel.
The report says year-end and New Year celebrations with family and friends make people more vulnerable to infection.
“It’s important that citizens cooperate a little by spending a quiet year-end and New Year,” Kato said.
There won’t be mass vaccinations until early next year and the government has already ordered 290 million vaccine doses from Pfizer Inc, AstraZeneca Plc and Moderna Inc and will buy 10,500 deep freezers to store them.