Facing calls to declare a coronavirus state of emergency, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was flamed on social media on Thursday for instead offering people free cloth masks, pointing to growing frustration for some over his handling of the crisis.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wears a protective face mask as he attends an upper house parliamentary session, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease , in Tokyo, Japan April 1, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato
The prime minister launched his offer to send cloth masks out while wearing one at a meeting of a government task force late on Wednesday. The masks will be sent to each of Japan’s more than 50 million households starting the week after next, with areas seeing a spike in cases getting priority. Twitter users were scathing, with the hashtag “#AbeMask” the top trend early on Thursday. “Is the Japanese government for real? This is a total waste of tax money,” wrote a user with the handle Usube.
Though small compared with outbreaks in the United States, Europe and China, coronavirus infections are on the rise in Japan - with some 2,500 confirmed cases as of Thursday morning and 70 deaths - prompting growing expressions of concern among social media users.
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