Calls are growing for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare a state of emergency to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus before it is too late.

“I personally feel it’s time (Japan) makes the declaration, and devises measures based on that,” Satoshi Kamayachi, an executive board member of the Japan Medical Association also serving on a government expert panel on COVID-19, said at a news conference Monday night.

Referring to an unofficial telephone conference held with other members of the panel prior to the news conference, he said, “Almost everyone agreed that it’s better to declare a state of emergency.”

On Tuesday, 78 people in Tokyo were newly confirmed to have been infected, Tokyo metropolitan government sources said. This brought the total number of cases in Tokyo to over 500.

Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura, citing an increase in coronavirus cases in cities with an unidentified infection route, said that Tokyo and Osaka would be prime candidates to enforce measures, such as issuing stay-at-home requests to residents.