According to Xinhua News Agency on February 4, Japan’s Diet passed two bills on the 3rd to punish individuals and enterprises who do not comply with the prevention and control measures of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The bill is an amendment to the COVID-19 Special Measures Act and the Infectious Diseases Act, Kyodo News Agency reported.
The bill allows the government to declare a new state of emergency before it reaches a state of emergency in order to take special measures to curb the spread of the virus.
According to the government’s vision, the premise of triggering this state is that the surge in the number of infections reaches the level of three alert, that is, the sub-higher level of the four alert level.
Amendments to the Infectious Diseases Act will impose a fine of up to 500,000 yen (about $5k) on COVID-19 patients who refuse to be hospitalized, and 300,000 yen (about $3k) for those who refuse to cooperate with the epidemiological investigation of health institutions.
Amendments to the Law on Special Measures to Combat Coronavirus stipulate that restaurants and bars that do not comply with the shortening of business hours in a state of emergency will be fined up to 300,000 yen;
restaurants and bars that do not cooperate with pandemic prevention measures at a lower level will be fined 200,000 yen (about $2k).
