Govt. plans fourth state of emergency for Tokyo NHK WORLD-JAPAN 9 hours ago
The Japanese government is planning to declare a coronavirus state of emergency for Tokyo for the fourth time.
The government conveyed the plan to the ruling parties after Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide discussed the matter with relevant Cabinet members, including Economic Revitalization Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi and Health Minister Tamura Norihisa, on Wednesday evening.
Coronavirus cases are surging in Tokyo and some prefectures, just as focused anti-virus measures for the capital were originally scheduled to end on Sunday.
The government also plans to extend a state of emergency for Okinawa, which was originally also scheduled to end on Sunday.
The government intends to have the state of emergency in Tokyo and Okinawa through August 22.
It also plans to extend focused anti-infection measures for the prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa and Osaka through August 22.The same measures in Hokkaido, Aichi, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka will end on Sunday as initially planned.
The government will officially decide on the plans after listening to opinions of a panel on infectious disease and other experts on Thursday.