Japan urges businesses to promote teleworking

Japan’s Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura urged the business community to promote teleworking among its staff, after the government declared a state of emergency for Tokyo, Japan’s capital city, where COVID-19 cases have been on the rise. 

“Novel coronavirus infections have been spreading incomparably fast, and the country’s health care system has been under severe pressure,” said the minister in a videoconference with Japan’s Business Federation, otherwise known as Keidanren; the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, or Keizai Doyukai, according to Jiji Press. 

“We ask you to go further than when you did during the first state of emergency over the novel coronavirus last spring,” he added. 

The government is requesting businesses to cut the number of commuting workers by 70% with alternatives like teleworking. 

Companies are also asked to not have their staff work beyond 8pm, unless the duty is necessary for the continuation of operations, in order to ensure that people do not go out unnecessarily at night. 

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The minister, who leads the nation’s pandemic response, also called for due consideration for business trips across prefectural borders.

Tokyo’s state of emergency runs till February 7, and applies also to the three surrounding prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa.