Dec 15, 2020 Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s flagship measure took a blow from the novel coronavirus Monday when he announced the Go To Travel campaign would be suspended nationwide for two weeks over the year-end holidays. Plummeting public support, growing political opposition and experts sounding the alarm drove Suga to suspend the campaign, while the virus itself seemed, at most, a secondary factor. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, leaders have sought to stimulate the economy while containing the virus in a two-track policy that would, each time cases began to surge, be reluctantly rolled back in small steps. “The government’s biggest responsibility is to protect the lives and livelihoods of the people,” Suga said during a news conference earlier this month.