Thanks to the great efforts and cooperation of the people of Kochi, I think that the spread of thenovel Coronavirus is considerably controlled. I would like to take this opportunity to thank thepeople of Kochi for their efforts.
Yesterday, the national state of emergency was extended to the end of May, and thegovernment updated its basic prevention policy.
From April 9th, we requested that everyone limit all non-urgent and non-necessary travel
regardless of the time of day. In addition, we requested the closure and/or reduced businesshours of restaurants and bars that entertain customers, karaoke boxes, and other entertainment
businesses from April 24th until May 6th. Following this, as of tomorrow (May 6th), we will lift
these requests.
However, from May 7th to May 31st, we ask for continued cooperation in the following areas:
Point 1: Avoid all non-essential and non-urgent travel to other prefectures. One of the key points
for extending the state of emergency for all prefectures is the request to limit travel between
them. Taking this goal into consideration, we ask for the continued self restraint of all travel
outside of Kochi, coming to Kochi, and crossing prefectural borders.
Point 2: Regarding the government policy about night time shopping districts, entertainment
venues, restaurants, and other areas that have been the source of viral clusters, we ask for thecontinued restraint from entering such establishments. The request for business closures has
been lifted, but we still ask for all Kochi citizens to refrain from going to these types ofbusinesses.
Point 3: Regarding the operation of events, there is a national call to stop all large scale events
that encourage people to travel. However, regarding smaller events, we ask that for the next twoweeks people don’t participate in events with more than 10 people. From May 20th, events
limited to 50 people will be considered as acceptable, however we would ask that people refrainfrom the creation and participation in events larger than this.
Considering the conditions for easing the state of emergency, there have been talks of theimplementation of a new lifestyle, which was recommended during the government specialist
conference, in order to prevent the spread of infection. We will be sending out more informationon this to Kochi residents, and we ask them to cooperate in this effort.
There is also the initiative to reform our working style. The initiative in place until May 6th was arequest to reduce human to human contact by at least 70, or even up to 80 percent, particularly
in regards to commuting.
The current policy is for the 13 prefectures designated as “high caution” to continue to aim forthis percentage target. As for the remaining 34 prefectures, including Kochi, it is recommendedthat people work from home, or to work in staggered shifts, etc; and to reduce person to person
contact as much as possible. For those reasons, while we no longer are aiming for a 70%
decrease, I ask all Kochi citizens and businesses to try to continue to implement these changes.
Prefectural facilities are scheduled to reopen from the 11th May, allowing for several days toprepare.
Although the board of education made a decision about the reopening of prefectural schools at
the end of April, after seeing the current situation regarding the infection rate, as a general rule,
all prefectural schools will fully reopen from May 25th. During this time of temporary closure,they will create a schedule for supplementary classes, and prepare for reopening.
Concerning restaurants, they have cooperated a great deal with infection prevention
countermeasures by temporarily closing, or by reducing their business hours in these extremely
difficult economic circumstances. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them very much.
At this time, I am removing limitations such as the business closure request, but by no means
does it mean that everything will immediately go back to as it was in February. The state ofemergency has been extended across the whole country. We are in a position where we arelooking to restart social economic activity whilst also preventing the spread of COVID-19. FromMay 7th, I am asking for open businesses to take strong measures against the spread.
To be specific, I am asking everyone to wear a mask, to wash or disinfect their hands, to keepover a 1 meter distance from one another and to ventilate and disinfect rooms. For restaurants
where we have to remove our masks to eat and drink, I ask for customers to reduce their timespent in these restaurants, to limit it to family or small groups, and to not speak loudly. Those
rules are not limited to restaurants, but apply to all businesses.
During the government specialist conference, it was concluded that there is a long road aheadof us as we tackle the spread of infection. In order to completely eradicate the virus, we mustpush forward to develop a drug or a vaccine with national and international effort, or it will bedifficult to see a clear path to the solution.
Moreover, there are also some specialists who have brought forward the idea that we must beprepared for multiple years of fighting off the virus. In Kochi, concerning the second wave of theinfection spreading, I cannot deny that this spread was linked to the three day weekend at theend of March, when attitudes towards the virus were becoming more relaxed on a nationalscale, with travelers moving between prefectures and restrictions loosening up within their own
prefectures.
As part of decreasing the limitations on social economic activity, I have reconsidered thevoluntary restrictions on going outside. However, I am in no way saying that it is okay to returnto normal like we were before February.

It is vital to manage the balance between infection prevention measures and the revival ofeconomic activity. If we do nothing, and go back to our previous lifestyles, a third and fourthwave will break out and we will have to return to all of the restrictions.
Regarding the “new lifestyle” and countermeasures to prevent the spread of infection, I am
asking for your understanding and cooperation with the prefecture’s new policies going forward.
May 5thKochi Prefecture Covid-19 Emergency Headquarters Chief(Governor) Hamada Seiji