Tokyo - Area State Of Emergency To End On Sunday
The Japanese government has decided to lift its coronavirus state of emergency for the Tokyo area on Sunday.
Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide pledged to take thorough measures to contain the spread of infection. He says the current situation is not quite good enough.
During a parliamentary committee meeting on Friday Suga said, "The occupancy rate for hospital beds must be below 50 percent to lift the declaration. Previously, it was 47.8 percent in Chiba Prefecture, but it is now below 40 percent. However, it is not that I believe this number is good enough. We will use comprehensive measures and prevent rebounds at any cost."
He stressed the number of daily new cases in the area has dropped by more than 80 percent, even as some places are seeing a slow increase.
Prefectural governors say they will keep asking bars and restaurants to close early, and remain cautious about lifting audience caps for events.
As part of efforts to monitor the spread of the virus, they will also ramp up precautionary testing.
Officials in Tokyo reported 303 new cases on Friday. More than 110 thousand people have been infected in the capital.