On Friday night, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga found himself standing behind the same lectern where, just 36 days prior, he had announced that the nation¡¯s second COVID-19 state of emergency would be lifted. But now, as he called a third emergency, he was reneging on a pledge that there wouldn¡¯t be another one on his watch.
¡°I told you that I¡¯d do everything I could to ensure that there wouldn¡¯t be another state of emergency, so I apologize from the bottom of my heart for doing so and causing inconvenience to so many people,¡± Suga told a news conference that saw him attempt to evade responsibility for the new measures, blaming them instead on virulent new strains of COVID-19 that dramatically drove up case numbers in Osaka, Tokyo, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures.
It was an outcome no one desired, though health experts had warned that a resurgence would be inevitable and advised policymakers to dial back restrictions gradually.
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