Japan PM Abe set to declare state of emergency as soon as Tuesday: Yomiuri www.reuters.com

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will declare a state of emergency as early as Tuesday in a bid to stop the coronavirus spreading across the country, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, as the cumulative number of infections topped 1,000 in Tokyo alone.
FILE PHOTO: Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wears a protective face mask as he attends an upper house parliamentary session, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Tokyo, Japan April 1, 2020.
The government is likely to designate the greater Tokyo metropolitan area for the state of emergency, and possibly also Osaka and Hyogo prefectures in western Japan, the Yomiuri reported.
Abe must seek formal advice from a panel of experts before deciding to go ahead and declare a state of emergency.
Restricting movement and businesses under a state of emergency would deal a heavy blow to an economy already struggling to avoid a recession.