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TOKYO (Kyodo) – The government is considering lifting the state of emergency declaration in most Japanese prefectures this month due to the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Sunday, though it will continue to call for caution in Tokyo and some other areas.
Of the 47 prefectures in the nation, the government is trying to finish the statement in 34 as soon as Thursday if they meet certain conditions, such as seeing fewer infections each week and having enough medical and monitoring systems, officials said.
A government panel of communicable disease experts is expected to meet Thursday and assess the current situation.
“We are considering lifting the declaration of a state of emergency in many (prefectures),” economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said at a press conference.
Many of the 34 prefectures have not reported coronavirus cases in the past week or two, Nishimura said.
The remaining 13 prefectures have been designated by the central government as requiring “special caution” due to their relatively high number of new infections. They are Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo, Fukuoka, Hokkaido, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Gifu, Aichi and Kyoto.
In Tokyo, 22 more infections were reported Sunday after an increase of 36 on Saturday and 39 on Friday. It was the eighth consecutive day that the capital marked a number below 100.
The emergency declaration, issued by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in April, has prompted local governments to request that residents avoid nonessential exits and some companies temporarily shut down to prevent further spread of the virus.
