The impact of declaring the state of emergency on human mobility during COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Japan has responded to the spread of COVID-19 through declaration of a state of emergency to regulate human mobility. Although the declaration was enforced by the government for prefectures, there is limited evidence as to whether the public complied with requests for voluntary stay at home. In this study, we evaluated the impact of declaring a state of emergency on human mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. METHODS: We utilized daily human mobility data for 47 prefectures in Japan. Data were collected via mobile phone from February 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021. Difference-in-difference analysis was utilized to estimate the effects of the declaration of a state of emergency on prefectures in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba) in comparison to other prefectures where the state of emergency was first lifted (Osaka, Hyogo, Fukuoka, and Aichi). RESULTS: Human mobility was suppressed during the second state of emergency, from January 8 to March 21, 2021. However, the impact was weaker for the second state of emergency compared to the first. CONCLUSION: In Japan, government requests for stay at home, such as the declaration of a state of emergency, were temporarily able to control human mobility. However, the second state of emergency was not as effective as the first. If additional need to regulate human mobility arises, self-restraint with stronger enforcement should be considered.