TOKYO (Reuters) – With just hours left on Tuesday before Japan imposes a state of emergency on Tokyo and six other prefectures to contain the coronavirus, the idea of leaving the capital, or “Escape from Tokyo,” swirled on social media.
A woman wearing a protective face mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), walks past inside an almost empty convention complex in Tokyo, Japan April 6, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Though Japan’s outbreak remains small compared with some overseas, alarm over the steady rise of cases in Tokyo to more than 1,000 – roughly a quarter of the country’s total – along with an increase in other urban centres, is prompting the state of emergency, which will last until May 6 and call on people to stay home and businesses to close