Japan snips 100,000 blooming tulips to prevent crowd amid COVID-19 pandemic

Authorities in Japan reportedly snipped over 100,000 blooming tulips to prohibit the crowd from gathering after a coronavirus emergency was declared due to a surge in COVID-19 cases across the country this past week. Tulip beds were mowed largely at Sakura Furusato Hiroba (square) in Chiba prefecture where the government cancelled the annual Sakura Tulip Festival that sparked uncertainty over assembly and violation of the home confinement measures put in place to flatten the curve. 

According to local media reports, 50 kilometres East of Tokyo, in the city of Sakura, officials were ordered to dismantle the flowers to keep visitors from the park that draws a horde of the public at this time of the year. The decision was taken to enable the crowd to comply with the social distancing measures. Sakiho Kusano, a city tourism official, was quoted as saying that the flowers were definitely in full bloom and would have attracted the viewers over the weekend that could easily turn to a mass public gathering. He added that the authorities were left with “no choice” but to raze the tulips. The stemmed flowers were donated at the local schools and kindergarten.  

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Gardens destroyed

A 77-year-old visitor Misako Yonekubo told a local daily that his “heart sank” when he witnessed the 7,000 square carpets of tulip gardens were destroyed, it was very, very unfortunate, he was further quoted saying. With nearly 11,512 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe extended the 'State of Emergency' earlier to the entire nation, as per the media reports. He urged the citizens to remain indoors as new cases hit the country's capital, Tokyo. The lockdown was also extended amidst rising fears that the Japanese health care system might collapse if there was an influx of the symptomatic patients in need of the ICU. 

Earlier today, at least 33 additional crew members on board the Italian vessel Costa Atlantica tested positive to the COVID-19 that was docked at Nagasaki prefecture in Japan, according to reports. Nagasaki’s governor, Hodo Nakamura, told a news conference that the country wasn’t equipped with an effective medical system to combat the spread. 

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