Japan has just posted some shocking news to its citizens, but also to the whole world. A health ministry projection in Japan reported by local media revealed that Japan's death toll from the novel coronavirus could reach 400,000 without measures to stem the contagion.
According to Kyodo and the Asahi newspaper, a ministry team studying clusters of the disease estimated that serious cases needing ventilator intervention could reach 850,000.
The projections are based on research from Hokkaido University professor Hiroshi Nishiura, one of the infectious disease experts guiding the government's response to the outbreak.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration has declared a state of emergency and advised citizens to curtail personal interaction by 70% to 80% to prevent an explosion in cases. The country has had more than 8,000 cases and 162 deaths from the virus, according to the tally by national broadcaster NHK.
Meanwhile, the government has urged citizens to do everything in their power to limit interactions with others by 70% to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday that the government will consider the request from coalition partner Komeito to hand out 100,000 yen ($933.45) per person after establishing the extra budget to help cushion the blow from the outbreak to households and businesses.
The global pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now claimed the lives of more than 126,000 people around the world.
Over 1.9 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding the scope of their nations' outbreaks.
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