As Japan imposes shutdowns to battle pandemic, rats come out on empty streets

As Japan shuttered more restaurants and declared the state public health emergency due to the coronavirus, experts have reportedly claimed that the rats have taken to the streets in search of food. In the once overcrowded streets now vacant due to the confinement measures, rats scurried through searching the litters and crawling in the venues closed down.  

In Tokyo's Kabukicho nightlife district, rats were seen in huge number snuffling through the shops and merely strolling across the empty roads, local broadcasters reported. Dozens of rats raced across the buildings and fed from the garbage bags at the entertainment district in the southwestern city of Kitakyushu. Rat Extermination Association official Tsutomu Tanikawa was quoted saying that the restaurants were all closed and over the days, the litter had been foraged by the mice, so now they are out on the streets in huge number scavenging for food. He added that with humans confined in their homes, the rats have turned less wary and this is a problem worldwide, and not only Japan, he further added. 

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Japan extended lockdown

Earlier at a press conference, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appealed to the Japanese citizens to stay indoors as new wave of infection hit the country's capital, Tokyo. The lockdown was extended amidst fears that the Japanese health care system might collapse with the mounting cases across the country, as per media reports. Abe had imposed a state of emergency on Tokyo and six other prefectures but on April 17, he extended it nationwide. Not just that, Japan's economy minister, Asutoshi Nishimura, reportedly suspended the public appearances and most of the team had to isolate after news of him exposed to a COVID-19 positive staffer broke out. 

Meanwhile, some parts in Japan might already be running out of beds as the medical facilities are overwhelmed. Amid the grave situation, the cluster outbreak of COVID-19 onboard liner docked in Nagasaki also raised the government’s concerns. The crew members on the Italian cruise ship Costa Atlantica docked in Japan tested positive surging the country’s total toll of the novel coronavirus and stressing the healthcare system, according to reports. 

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