Japan pauses domestic travel push in two cities as COVID spreads

Japan paused its domestic “Go To Travel” promotion campaign in two cities following sharp rises in COVID-19 infections, a government minister said on Tuesday, a blow to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s plan to help prop up regional economies. Critics of the programme had said it risked spreading the infection from major cities to the countryside. “We have agreed to temporarily exclude trips destined for the cities of Sapporo and Osaka from the travel campaign,” Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Tuesday. “Although we have tried to balance both economic revitalization as well as virus containment, we have made this decision at the local governors’ request,” Nishimura told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Suga and Tourism Minister Kazuyoshi Akaba.