府民に外出自粛呼び掛け　大阪府、非常事態の「赤信号」点灯―新型コロナ

　大阪府は３日の新型コロナウイルス対策本部会議で、府内の重症者が急増したことを受け、府民に対し「できる限り、不要不急の外出を自粛する」よう呼び掛けた。期間は４日から１５日まで。感染状況を判断する府の独自基準「大阪モデル」では、非常事態を示す「赤信号」を初めて点灯、観光名所である通天閣や万博記念公園の太陽の塔も赤くライトアップされた。
　吉村洋文府知事は会議冒頭で「医療提供体制が非常に逼迫（ひっぱく）している。大阪モデルの赤信号をつけて命を守る対策を取っていきたい」と訴えた。（2020/12/03-21:38）

The Osaka prefectural government on Thursday signaled a "red light" over the COVID-19 situation in the western Japan prefecture and asked residents to avoid going out for nonessential reasons from Friday through Dec. 15.
   The red light means an emergency under the prefecture's own standards on assessing the epidemic situation. The prefecture's landmark Tsutenkaku Tower and Tower of the Sun, located in the Expo '70 Commemorative Park, were lit up in red on the day.
   The move followed a surge in the number of severely ill COVID-19 patients in the prefecture. The occupancy rate for hospital beds for severely ill patients in Osaka stood at 66 pct on Thursday.
   The supply-demand balance for medical services in the prefecture is "becoming very tight," Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said at a meeting of the prefecture's coronavirus response headquarters. "After signaling the red light, we'll take measures to protect people's lives," he said.
   The prefecture introduced the own epidemic-assessing standards in May and issued a "yellow light" on July 12.