Japan vows to fight with coronavirus with massive stimulus package

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is to pledge to take "all steps" encompassing fiscal, monetary and tax policies to battle the deepening fallout from the coronavirus in a stimulus package to be approved on Tuesday, a draft document reviewed by Reuters showed.

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Abe has pledged to craft an "unprecedented" stimulus package to respond to the global downturn inflicted by the pandemic, which would exceed the size of one compiled in the wake of the 2009 financial crisis totalling 56 trillion yen ($514 billion) in size, with fiscal spending of 15 trillion yen.

A man with a protective mask walks an empty restaurant street in Tokyo on Monday. Eugene Hoshiko/AP

Meanwhile, the US Forces Japan commander declared on Monday a public health emergency for its military bases in eastern Japan's Kanto region including Tokyo, which has seen a jump in the number of new coronavirus infections.

"Due to the steady increase in COVID-19 cases in the Tokyo area, I have implemented a Public Health Emergency for the Kanto Plains region," Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider, US Forces Japan commander said in a statement. "This order covers all Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine installations and facilities in the area."

COVID-19 is the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Reuters