Governors Want Strict Post - Emergency Measures
Japan's prefectural governors want strict measures maintained to prevent the coronavirus from spreading, after a state of emergency in the Tokyo area ends on Sunday.
Governors from about 30 of 47 prefectures across Japan held an online meeting on Saturday.
Ono Motohiro, the Governor of Saitama, just north of Tokyo, said, "The number of new cases has stopped declining in my prefecture. It even shows a sign of increasing again. After the state of emergency is lifted, we need to ease preventive measures gradually, in stages."
The governors compiled proposals for the central government to prevent another surge in infections.
They include financial support for conducting extensive PCR virus tests and tracking infection routes.
The governors are also calling on the government to complete vaccinations for healthcare workers as soon as possible and start inoculations for elderly citizens.
More than 1,500 new cases were reported across Japan on Saturday. Nearly half of them were in the Tokyo area. That brings the national tally to over 456, 000. More than 8,800 people have died since the pandemic began.