MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd February, 2021) The Japanese government on Tuesday extended the state of emergency in Tokyo and nine other prefectures through March 7 despite declining coronavirus infection rates, media reported.
According to the Kyodo news agency, the pressure on the Japanese health care system remains near peak levels, prompting the COVID-19 task force to keep the state of emergency in place in all prefectures but one.
"The nationwide number of new infections is falling, but we need to continue this and decrease the number of patients who are hospitalized or in serious condition," Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in parliament earlier in the day, Kyodo reported.
The most populous prefectures, among them Tokyo, Kanagawa and Osaka, will maintain the status whereby restaurants and bars close early, events are limited and businesses are encouraged to adopt a remote work regime.
The sprawling Tokyo metropolitan area, the epicenter of the epidemic in the country, reported 556 new cases Tuesday, well below its January peak of nearly 2,500 cases.
As of Tuesday, Japanese health care has registered nearly 390,000 COVID-19 cases and 5,722 deaths as a result. Japan was one of the few nations to avoid explosive transmissions throughout most of 2020, but cases began to climb significantly in November.
Suga, already under public pressure over perceived failures to keep the pandemic at bay, is racing against the clock to ensure that the Tokyo Olympics go ahead this summer.
