Tokyo asks businesses to close as ancient Japan’s capital Kyoto warns tourists away

Metropolitan Tokyo asked some businesses to close and the ancient capital of Kyoto warned tourists to stay away as Japan battles an outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said she was targeting a range of businesses for shutdowns from Saturday during a month-long emergency through May 6, after resolving a feud with PM Shinzo Abe’s team over the extent of the closures, Reuters said.

The number of cases in Japan rose to 6,003 on Friday, with 112 deaths, according to NHK. Tokyo accounted for 1,708 cases, heightening concerns about sluggish action.

The governor of Aichi in Japan’s industrial heartland declared its own state of emergency on Friday and has asked to be added to the government’s targeted regions. Gifu in central Japan was also poised to issue an emergency declaration and at least one other prefecture was set to do the same, media reports said.