Japan Lifts State of Emergency in 3 More Prefecture, Keeps Measures in Tokyo, Hokkaido
The Japanese government has lifted the coronavirus state of emergency in three more prefectures but has decided to keep measures in place in capital Tokyo and the northernmost island of Hokkaido, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced on Thursday
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st May, 2020) The Japanese government has lifted the coronavirus state of emergency in three more prefectures but has decided to keep measures in place in capital Tokyo and the northernmost island of Hokkaido, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced on Thursday.
One week after ending the nationwide state of emergency and lifting it in 39 out of 47 prefectures, Abe added Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo to the list.
"We are lifting the state of emergency declaration for Osaka, Kyoto, and Hyogo prefectures. Tokyo, its three neighbors, and Hokkaido will remain under the state of emergency. But the number of new infections is steadily declining and the strain on the medical system is easing. Therefore, we will ask experts to evaluate the situation early next week, likely on Monday.
If the situation remains the same, we may be able to lift the declaration for those prefectures," Abe said, as quoted by the NHK broadcaster.
The three prefectures met the criteria needed for the state of emergency to be lifted � having less than 0.5 active cases per 100,000 people, according to NHK.
Even though Tokyo's neighboring prefectures of Saitama and Chiba met that criteria, the capital city itself and nearby Kanagawa did not and the government is treating all four entities as one group, the broadcaster reported.
Japan has thus far avoided an explosive increase in coronavirus infection seen across much of the globe, managing to keep the total number of cases below 18,000 while registering 797 deaths in total, according to the health ministry's tally.