TOKYO -- The state of emergency declared for the Tokyo area is the first stage of a three-part plan for containing COVID-19, with legislative steps for enforcement and a vaccination campaign slated to follow, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Thursday.
"It will take up to two weeks before we can see the effects of our countermeasures," the prime minister explained, citing the previous state of emergency declared last April. "After that, time will be needed to analyze the impact" and hammer out a plan, he added.
