Prime Minister Abe ordered all schools to close until April.

In a surprisingly large-scale move late on Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered every school in the country to close its doors until the new academic year begins in early April. This declaration was made in response to Hokkaido’s official declaration of a state of emergency after a high number of coronavirus infections were confirmed there.

Public response to Abe’s declaration has been mostly negative, with politicians questioning how such a plan could even be enforced and working-class parents deriding the decision for necessitating them to watch their children during the day for at least a month. Because so many kids will be out of school, and social gatherings have been discouraged to prevent the spread of the virus, many parents will not be able to do their jobs as they stay home to take care of them.

A 56-year-old business owner and grandmother, Mieko Hamada,spoke to Reuters about the matter. “I’m going to have to babysit my grandkids every other day,” she said. “My daughter works and can’t look after them, and their babysitter also refused. It’s utter chaos.” She added that she would need to ask her own subordinates to take care of her business while she remains at home.

Some parts of Japan have outright refused Abe’s call. A representative from the Shimane prefecture, located in the western part of the country, said that they have no intent of closing their schools since there have not been any confirmed coronavirus cases within the prefecture.

There are currently at least 200 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Japan, with one confirmed death of a man in his seventies. At least 700 more Japanese citizens aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise liner are also presumed infected. Despite the curtailing of social gatherings, Abe has insisted that the 2020 Olympic Games will still be held as planned, though many are dubious of this claim.