Over 80,000 people have been dismissed or seen their employment contracts terminated rather than renewed in Japan for reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic since it began, the labor ministry said Thursday.

Job insecurity is likely to spread further, with cases of the disease soaring across the nation. The government was set to declare a fresh state of emergency for Tokyo and its three neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa later in the day.

The number of people who were dismissed or saw their contracts not renewed, including those who had expected that to be the case, reached 80,121 as of Wednesday, up 320 from the previous day, the ministry said.

As of Dec. 25 last year, the manufacturing industry had seen the highest number of people facing such circumstances, at 16,717, followed by the restaurant industry with 11,021 and the retail industry with 10,399. The totals disclosed also included those who had already found new employment.

Source: テレ東NEWS