
TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday declared a monthlong state of emergency, warning of the strain on hospitals and saying the coronavirus crisis poses the biggest threat to the economy since World War II.
The emergency declaration gives the governors of Tokyo and six other selected prefectures -- Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Fukuoka, Hyogo and Osaka -- legal backing to ask the public to stay home.