茨城県知事によるステージ3移行と感染拡大市町村の指定についての市長コメント（2021年7月27日）

本日（7月27日）、大井川知事が記者会見を行い、県の対応ステージを3に引き上げるとともに、つくば市を含む県内16市町を「感染拡大市町村」に指定することを発表しました。期間は7月30日（金曜日）から8月12日（木曜日）までです。対象の市町においては、これまでに指定された際の内容と同様で、不要不急の外出自粛と、全ての飲食店を対象に午後8時から午前5時までの営業自粛が要請されています（酒類の提供は午後7時まで）。営業自粛要請に要請期間全てご協力頂いた場合、茨城県が事業規模に応じて協力金を支給する予定です。

県内では本日96名の感染者が判明し、つくば市では21名の感染が県から発表されました（うち濃厚接触者12名）。県内、市内ともに感染が急拡大しており、知事は、その主たる要因を変異株によるものと見込んでいます。また、感染者数が増加することで、重要な指標である病床稼働数に影響を与えることも懸念されます。市民や事業者の皆様におかれましては、改めての指定となり、大変ご負担をお掛けしますが、各要請へのご理解とご協力をお願いするとともに、今一度手洗い、マスク着用を含む咳エチケット、3密を避けるなど感染防止の徹底をお願いします。

つくば市長
五十嵐 立青

Mayor’s comment following the announcement by Ibaraki Governor to raise COVID-19 response level to stage 3, and designation of areas where infection is spreading (July 27, 2021)

Provisional translation

At a press conference today (July 27), Ibaraki Governor Oigawa announced that he has raised the Prefecture’s COVID-19 response level from Stage 2 to Stage 3. He also designated 16 municipalities in the Prefecture, including Tsukuba, as “areas where infection is spreading”. This designation will take effect from July 30 (Friday) to August 12 (Thursday). The restrictions of the designated areas are the same as before where the residents are requested to avoid non-essential travel, and all the restaurants and bars are urged to close from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. (and to stop serving alcoholic beverages at 7 p.m.). Ibaraki Prefecture will provide subsidies to the restaurants and bars cooperating with this request for the entire period, according to the size of their business.

Today, 96 people were found positive in Ibaraki Prefecture, and in Tsukuba City, there were 21 positive cases (of these, 12 persons were confirmed positive following close contact with infected persons). The Governor presumes that this rapid increase in positive cases both in the Prefecture and the City is mainly due to a new variant of the virus. It is concerned that the increase in positive cases affects bed occupancy in hospitals which is an important indicator. This is not the first such designation for Tsukuba and we sincerely apologize for the great inconvenience this may cause for our residents and business owners. However, please cooperate with the request to avoid non-essential travel and to shorten business hours, and continue to thoroughly observe preventative measures to stop the spread of infection, including washing hands, wearing face masks, covering mouth when coughing and avoiding “3Cs (closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact setting)”.

Tatsuo Igarashi
Mayor of Tsukuba