Panel Sets 3 Conditions For Ending Tokyo Emergency
The head of Japan's coronavirus advisory panel says experts have asked the government to accept three conditions before it lifts the state of emergency for Tokyo.
Omi Shigeru spoke to reporters after the panel met on Thursday. He said the experts had approved the government's plan to end the emergency for nine prefectures on Sunday, replacing it with focused restrictions for seven of them.
But Omi said the members spent a lot of time discussing Tokyo, where the number of infections is ceasing to fall or is increasing little by little.
He said the panel presented three conditions that must be met, and the government agreed.
Omi said the experts first asked the government to implement all the steps they have proposed to prevent a rebound in cases, including advancing vaccinations and beefing up virus tests. The experts called for sufficient government spending to that end.
He said that secondly, the government must quickly take stronger measures, without hesitation, if there are signs that infections are surging again.
Omi said that as a third condition, the government should come up with a broad vision for the next several months on how it plans to control the situation and what steps it considers necessary.