TOKYO, Feb 2 — Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday he will extend the state of emergency covering Tokyo and other parts of Japan by one month to March 7, as hospitals remain under pressure despite declining coronavirus numbers.
The state of emergency will remain in place in 10 prefectures including Osaka, Aichi and Fukuoka. Tochigi will be the only one to have it lifted on February 7 because its situation has significantly improved, Kyodo News reported.
Suga made the announcement in parliament after a panel of experts approved the extension. The decision will be finalised later in the day by the government’s coronavirus task force.
“The nationwide number of new infections is falling, but we need to continue this and decrease the number of patients who are hospitalised or in serious condition,” he said.
Under the state of emergency, people are urged to refrain from unnecessary outings while restaurants and bars are being asked to close early. Businesses are encouraged to adopt remote working and attendance at large events has been capped.
While the measures have been laxer than the previous state of emergency last spring, when schools were closed nationwide and some businesses were told to temporarily close, they have been at least somewhat successful in bringing down the number of infections.
Tokyo reported 393 coronavirus cases on Monday, the lowest figure in more than a month and down from the single-day peak of 2,447, marked when the current emergency was declared on January 7.
Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of the government’s pandemic response, has said the state of emergency may be lifted before March 7 in prefectures where the situation significantly improves.
One benchmark for an early exit in the capital would be daily new infections falling below 500, he has said, though other factors including the availability of hospital beds will also be considered.
On Tuesday, Tokyo reported 556 additional coronavirus cases.
— Bernama
