Japan PM Abe says country at critical stage in dealing with coronavirus infections

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the country is at a critical stage in dealing with coronavirus infections but not at a point to declare a state of emergency.

Abe says Japan has managed to keep clusters under control by carefully following infection routes. But the initial strategy is now having a difficulty, with a rise of infections that are no longer traceable -- an early sign of infection explosion.

He says once there is infection overshoot, “our strategy of slowing down the peak of the infections will instantly fall apart.” He adds “under the current situation, we are just barely holding up. But I understand we are standing on the edge.” Abe convened a taskforce Thursday, the day after Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike made a stay-at-home request to its 14 million residents after seeing a spike in the number of new cases of the COVID-19 to 41.

Japan has 2,180 confirmed cases, including 712 from a cruise ship, with 59 deaths, according to the health ministry.

Image Credit: AP