いわき湯本温泉 旅館こいと｜源泉掛け流しの温泉が自慢の宿

First of all, I would like to express my deepest respect and gratitude to those of you who have been working hard on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19 including doctors, nurses, and hospital staff, clinical laboratory technologists as well as workers at public health centres countering infectious diseases.
On 25 May the central government lifted the state of emergency which had been declared based on the Act on Special Measures for Pandemic Influenza and New Infectious Diseases Preparedness and Response in the Kanto region (Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo and Kanagawa) as well as Hokkaido. This result is thanks to the nationwide efforts to contain the virus through the adoption of preventative measures. The spread of infections in Fukushima Prefecture has been suppressed with no new cases confirmed since 9 May. This is thanks to the cooperation and understanding of our residents and business operators and I would like to extend my gratitude again for their cooperation.
On the other hand, we anticipate the battle against COVID-19 to be prolonged and the spread of infection may very well occur again. This means that it is still difficult to predict how things will change going forward.
In the policy announced the other day, the central government set a transitional period of approximately two months, lasting until 31 July. During this period, the epidemiological situation, and the risk of the spread of infection will be assessed roughly every three weeks. This will lead to the gradual easing of restrictions on refraining from going out, holding events, and the like, so that socio-economic activities can continue to be increased.
In consideration of the central government’s policy, and the state of infections in the prefecture, today we revised the State of Emergency Measures for the Prevention of the Spread of the Novel Coronavirus in Fukushima Prefecture. Based on these revised measures, I ask everyone in the Prefecture as well as business operators to take the following three actions from 1 June to 18 June.

First, I would like to talk about establishing a “New Lifestyle” and other measures. I ask you to continue to thoroughly adopt a “New Lifestyle” approach where you need to continue to practice basic preventative measures such as avoiding the “Three Cs”- “Closed spaces with poor ventilation”, “Crowded places with many people nearby”, “Close-contact settings such as close-range conversations” as well as wearing a mask, practicing hand hygiene including washing hands and observing social distancing. I ask business operators to promote efforts for reducing person-to-person contact during commuting hours including having staggered work schedules and encouraging workers to commute via bicycle. I also ask business operators to introduce and utilize measures such as working from home, teleworking, and teleconferencing in place of traveling for business.
In addition, until 18 June, I ask you to refrain from traveling between and across Tokyo and the three neighboring prefectures in the Kanto region, as well as Hokkaido where the state of emergency was lifted on 25 May for nonurgent and nonessential reasons as much as possible.
While the following types of business have experienced clusters of infection in Japan, I have decided to lift the request to refrain from going to karaoke parlors, sports gyms and other such businesses, should it be deemed that a certain level of safety can be ensured through the thorough adoption of preventative measures.
In addition, I ask you to continue to refrain from visiting restaurants with hospitality services, live music clubs and the like, until industry-specific guidelines on preventive measures are formulated and thorough measures are implemented accordingly.

Second, I would like to talk about our request of your cooperation in the use of facilities. I ask educational institutions whose schools will fully resume on 1 June, and business operators to thoroughly take preventative measures in accordance with the industry-specific guidelines on preventive measures.

Third, I would like to talk about the request to refrain from holding events. I ask organisers to limit the number of participants to 100 or less for indoor events and to 200 or less for outdoor events, while taking proper preventative measures until 18 June. I will gradually ease these restrictions for events held after 19 June. Local festivals and other similar events can be held, as long as the event is expected not to attract people from across Japan or from over a wide area, and that the number of participants or attendees can be estimated, while proper preventative measures are taken. However, please respond prudently including canceling of the festival if these conditions mentioned above cannot be met.

Next, I would like to talk about measures for the economy and employment. We need to take prompt measures to support the Prefecture’s economy as various industries including accommodation facilities and restaurants have been dealing with an exceedingly difficult situation. We need to increase socio-economic activities in a phased approach for revitalizing the economy while controlling the risk of infections.　
To this end, in order to support everyone in the Prefecture who have been cooperating with our stay-at-home and shutdown requests, as well as to help boost the hotel and tourism industries in the Prefecture, we will be launching a campaign on 1 June to discount hotel charges exclusively for the people of Fukushima. This will come ahead of the formulation of the Prefecture’s supplementary budget in June and the national government’s Go To Campaign. Specifically, we have allocated a budget of 121 million yen for 20,000 stays which will provide a 5,000 yen discount for each stay costing more than 7,000 yen excluding tax.
We are considering additional measures with the formulation of the supplementary budget in June.

Lastly, while the state of emergency has been lifted in all prefectures, it does not mean a declaration of safety. It is likely that the above measures will need to be continued for an extended period of time in the battle against COVID-19. Please help to reduce the burden on our healthcare facilities by taking on measures which protect yourself, your loved ones, and our society. I hope each and every one of you change your daily habits in order to establish the “New Lifestyle”. Please do not level discrimination and prejudice against people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and those related to them as well as healthcare related workers who have been working hard to prevent the spread of infections. I would like to ask for your continued understanding and cooperation with consideration to others, your patience, hard work and ingenuity in coming together as one to support us in overcoming this difficult situation.