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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has declared a state of emergency in the capital Tokyo, port city Osaka and five other prefectures.

The state of emergency will kick in on Wednesday and is set to last about a month, said news outlet The Japan Times.

The governors of the prefectures will be able to close schools and businesses, but authorities will not have the legal powers to order citizens to stay at home.

But some local medical experts said ahead of the ruling that this was coming too late. Here’s a bit more context as to why.