Japan to extend COVID-19 state of emergency Tuesday
TOKYO. KAZINFORM - The Japanese government is set to extend Tuesday the state of emergency for regions still struggling with a high number of coronavirus infections, government officials said Monday, Kyodo reports.
The current end date for the state of emergency, which Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared in January in 11 prefectures including Tokyo and Osaka, is Feb. 7.
Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of Japan's coronavirus response, said the government will convene a panel of experts on public health and other fields soon to aid its decision on the potential extension.
Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures -- Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama -- where infections have eased from their peak but remain high, will likely remain under the state of emergency, the officials said. Nearby Tochigi, meanwhile, may be removed from the list.
An extension also appears likely for Osaka and adjacent Kyoto and Hyogo as well as Fukuoka.
The end date of the state of emergency, under which people are urged to refrain from unnecessarily leaving the house and restaurants and bars are asked to close at 8 p.m., could be pushed back as much as one month, the officials said.
Suga is scrambling to contain the coronavirus, which has killed more than 5,700 and infected nearly 400,000 in Japan, as his public support dwindles and the clock ticks until the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics kick off in the summer.