Govt. Asks Experts On Lifting Emergency For Tokyo
The Japanese government has asked an advisory panel whether to lift the coronavirus state of emergency for Tokyo and its three neighboring prefectures as planned on Sunday.
The panel including contagious disease experts met at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, with the minister in charge of the country's coronavirus response, Nishimura Yasutoshi, and health minister Tamura Norihisa attending.
The government plans to lift the emergency on the grounds that the region's medical arrangements have been improving even though its daily number of new confirmed cases has been leveling off without dropping.
At Thursday's meeting, Nishimura asked the experts about their views on the government plan.
If the panel approves it, the government would present the plan to briefing and question-and-answer sessions of the steering committees of both chambers of the Diet with Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide present.
The government would then formally decide on the plan at a meeting of its task force later in the day.
This means the state of emergency declared nationwide in early January would be lifted for the entire country.
Suga plans to hold a news conference to explain the grounds for the decision and measures his government plans to take afterward.
The government says it will continue to call on restaurants and bars to close early and companies to further promote remote working.
It also plans to carry out large-scale virus tests in major cities to monitor asymptomatic patients so that infections in urban areas can be detected as early as possible.