60% In 7 Japan Prefectures Still Showing Up At The Office

Above, office workers walk past the sculpture of Maman in Roppongi Hills, Photo by Armand Vaquer.

There should be no surprise why there's an upsurge in coronavirus cases in Japan since it has been reported that 60% are still showing up for work, despite a nationwide state of emergency.

The Japan Times reported:

About 60 percent of employees in Tokyo and six other prefectures still commute to offices despite the state of emergency declared to curb the coronavirus pandemic, a think tank survey showed Friday. 

The online survey by Persol Research and Consulting Co., covering some 25,000 workers nationwide, also showed that the nationwide telecommuting rate had roughly doubled to 27.9 percent by the middle of the month from 13.2 percent in March. 

On April 10, 58.5 percent of regular workers in the seven-prefecture zone said they were still going to the office, showing just how far the nation still has to go to attain the government's target of a 70 percent reduction to slow the virus's spread. 

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared the state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures on April 7 and expanded it to the entire country on Thursday. 

From April 10 to 13, 38.8 percent of permanent employees in the seven prefectures telecommuted, with the rate hitting 49.1 percent in Tokyo. But only 13.8 percent teleworked outside those areas, the study showed.

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