Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared on Tuesday a state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus after an alarming growth in cases in urban areas.The declaration, effective through May 6, will enable prefectural governors to take stronger preventive steps, ranging from instructing citizens to stay at home to restricting the operation of schools and other facilities, although there are no legal penalties for noncompliance.Measures to be taken based on the first-ever such declaration in Japan could curtail people's rights and freedoms to…READ FULL ARTICLE
