JAPAN: Abe struggles to find his footing after emergency declaration

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● After declaring a state of emergency in Tokyo and six other prefectures, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has struggled to deploy its new emergency powers effectively as it strives to contain Japan’s Covid-19 outbreak. ● The Abe government has been at odds with prefectural governments over how to deploy emergency powers, but both have introduced new measures to protect Japan’s medical system that could preserve the country’s ability to manage the outbreak. ● The public increasingly disapproves of Abe’s handling of the crisis, highlighting that Abe’s premiership