Japan to extend COVID quasi-emergency in 17 prefs., end it in 5
TOKYO. KAZINFORM - A government panel on Friday approved the extension of Japan's COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency measures until March 6 in 17 prefectures including Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka to curb coronavirus infections, while ending them Sunday in five other prefectures, Kyodo reports.
The planned extension, to be formally decided at a task force meeting later in the day, means that 31 of Japan's 47 prefectures including Tokyo would remain under a quasi-state of emergency into March, allowing their governors to request restaurants and bars to close early and stop serving alcohol.
Shigeru Omi, the government's top COVID adviser, told a press conference after the panel's meeting that two of its members opposed the extension, saying the Omicron variant, which is said to cause no or mild symptoms, does not call for such restrictions.
«Remaining on guard, we will deal with the situation as we firmly keep the outlook in mind,» Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said during a House of Representatives' Budget Committee meeting.
Hitoshi Kikawada, senior vice minister at the Cabinet Office, told the panel that the 17 prefectures seeking extensions «face the possibility of an increase in the number of patients with severe symptoms and need to reduce the burden on their health care systems.»
Kikawada said the strain on hospitals had eased in the five other prefectures -- Yamagata, Shimane, Yamaguchi, Oita and Okinawa.
The quasi-emergency measures are set to expire Sunday in 16 of the 17 prefectures and on Feb. 27 in Wakayama in western Japan.
The remaining 13 prefectures are Hokkaido, Aomori, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Ishikawa, Nagano, Shizuoka, Hyogo, Okayama, Hiroshima, Saga and Kagoshima.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a news conference that experts believe the recent wave of infections has likely peaked, and the government plans to «confirm the downtrends in the infection situation and the strain on hospitals» in the extended two weeks.