Japan's Abe stands by decision to distribute 2 reusable, cloth masks to each household

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday said the government's plan to distribute washable cloth masks to all households in Japan was "reasonable" to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 amid short supply of regular face and surgical masks.

Part of the government's 108 trillion yen (1 trillion U.S. dollars) extra budget for fiscal 2020, to be submitted to parliament next week, will be allocated to fund the distribution to each household of the two reusable masks.

Speaking in parliament, the prime minister double-downed on the decision to provide each household with two of the washable masks as a means to curb the spread of the pneumonia-causing virus in Japan, describing the measure as "reasonable."

As the masks can be washed, the government is also hoping that the fact they can be used multiple times will also help ease anxiety that legitimate face and surgical masks are in extremely short supply and almost literally unavailable to buy regularly at public stores anywhere.

The cost of purchasing and delivering more than 100 million masks to each household in Japan is estimated to be in the region of 46.6 billion yen (around 434 million U.S. dollars).

One week ago, Abe declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus for Tokyo and six other prefectures.

According to the latest figures released Thursday evening from the health ministry and local officials, 482 new infections have been confirmed nationwide.

These include 161 new cases confirmed in Tokyo, the nation's epicenter for the virus, and 59 cases in Osaka, also a hotbed for COVID-19, with the national total rising to 8,173 infections.

The death toll from the virus stands at 174, according to the latest figures.

(CGTN)