Japan mulls ending state of emergency in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo prefectures
TOKYO. KAZINFORM - Japan is considering lifting a state of emergency in Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo later this week as the numbers of new coronavirus infections in the three prefectures have remained low, government officials said Tuesday, Yonhap reports.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make the final decision on Thursday after hearing opinions from health experts, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
While the government has assessed that the western prefectures have also secured enough hospital beds and capacity to conduct virus tests, Abe and his aides are carefully watching the situations in Tokyo and Hokkaido, according to the officials.
Abe lifted the state of emergency in 39 of Japan's 47 prefectures last week and said it would be possible to do the same in the rest of the areas even before its expiry on May 31, if certain criteria are met.
The eight remaining are Tokyo, Osaka and five prefectures in their surrounding areas, as well as Hokkaido, a grouping where nearly half the country's population lives.
They have been divided into three groups based on geographical proximity -- the metropolitan area encompassing Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, the Kansai region of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo, and Hokkaido.