Free travel across Japan OK'd from Fri. as virus fears ease

«We're raising the level of social and economic activities further,» Abe told a meeting of a government task force on the coronavirus. «There will be no restrictions on movement (beyond prefectures),» Kyodo reports.

Abe ended a nationwide state of emergency he declared by late May. But people have been advised to avoid travel to and from Tokyo and Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures in the Tokyo metropolitan area, as well as Hokkaido in northern Japan, if it is not urgent or essential.

Tokyo has the largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases among the country's 47 prefectures and close economic links with the neighboring prefectures. Hokkaido was recently hit by a fresh wave of infections.

Under the nationwide state of emergency declared ahead of the Golden Week holidays from late April to early May, the government asked people to refrain from crossing prefectural borders for fear of the virus spreading.

The easing of travel curbs opens the way for a recovery in tourism as the government seeks to revitalize the struggling sector once the coronavirus epidemic subsides.

Health experts warn that Japan can still see another wave of coronavirus infections if people let their guard down against the virus.

Over 17,600 cases have been confirmed in Japan, excluding those from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama near Tokyo in February, according to data as of Thursday. The country's death toll from COVID-19 stood at some 950.