Pedestrians pass a street crossing Friday, May 22, 2020, in Tokyo. Tokyo is still under a coronavirus state of emergency until the end of May though there have been no hard lockdowns.
Japan is set to remove a coronavirus state of emergency from Tokyo and four other remaining prefectures later Monday, ending the measure that has lasted for more than a month and half and allowing businesses to gradually resume. Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, at a special task force meeting, asked experts on a government-commissioned panel to evaluate a plan to lift the measure.
“It appears the measure is no longer needed in all of the prefectures,” Nishimura said.
The experts are expected to approve the plan at the meeting, paving the way for an official announcement later Monday by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Abe declared the state of emergency on April 7, first in parts of Japan including Tokyo, expanded it to the entire nation later in the month and extended it until the end of May. Unlike a European-style hard lockdown, Japan’s state of emergency is soft and largely a request for people to stay at home and for non-essential businesses to close or operate shorter hours, a strategy aiming at minimizing the economic damage.
Over the past week, more people have returned to work, shopping and other places under “new lifestyles” of anti-infection measures and physical distancing.
Nishimura said recent data suggest that the infections have slowed enough and the medical systems are under less pressure and that it’s time to gradually resume social and economic activity.
Japan has 16,580 confirmed cases and 830 deaths, according to the health ministry.
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