More home working urged

日本呼吁恢复远程办公

Japan's economy minister on Monday urged moretelecommuting to contain the spread of thecoronavirus as a surge in cases during the past weekhas sparked worries over a growing burden on thenation's healthcare system.

日本负责新冠疫情应对的官员、经济再生大臣西村康稔7月27日呼吁更多人远程办公，以控制新冠病毒的传播。过去一周日本新增病例大幅增加，引发对医疗系统不堪重负的担忧。

In a video meeting with local governors, YasutoshiNishimura, who is also in charge of coronavirus response, called on business leaders toenhance anti-virus measures, such as encouraging the level of telecommuting achieved duringJapan's state of emergency earlier this year.

西村康稔当日在与日本各地知事的视频会议上呼吁商界领袖加强防疫措施，例如恢复今年早些时候紧急状态期间实现的员工远程办公比例。



"At one point, commuter numbers were down by 70 to 80%, but now it's only about 30%,"Nishimura said. "We really don't want to backtrack on this, so we have to explore new ways ofworking and raise the proportion of teleworking."

西村康稔说：“员工的远程办公比例曾经一度达到70%至80%，但现在只有约30%。我们不想开倒车，就要寻找新的工作方式，提高员工远程办公比例。”

On Monday, 131 new cases were reported in Tokyo, along with rising numbers in other urbanareas.

7月27日，东京报告131例新增病例，其它城市的病例数也在增加。