Suga: Too Early To Decide Whether To End Emergency
Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide says it is too early to tell whether the coronavirus state of emergency can be lifted for Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures next Sunday as scheduled.
Suga told an Upper House Budget Committee session on Monday that he will make a final decision after seeking experts' opinions.
He said the state of emergency was extended for two weeks for Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures as well as Tokyo because the medical care system was still under strain.
Suga said the pace of decline in new cases has leveled off recently, and he cannot tell under current conditions whether the state of emergency should end or be extended again.
The head of the government's expert panel, Omi Shigeru, also said further analysis is needed.
Omi said he thinks the state of emergency proved to be effective. But he said a decision should not be made without examining why the decline in the number of new cases has stalled.
The minister in charge of the coronavirus vaccination program, Kono Taro, said he hopes to come up with the entire picture for inoculations this month. He said that will allow local governments to have a clearer idea of how they can go ahead with vaccinations.
Kono also said it would become possible to issue vaccination certificates, if what are known as "vaccine passports" become necessary for international travel.