REUTERS
May 10, 2020 at 15:10 JST
Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Sunday the government is looking to lift the state of emergency in "many of 34 prefectures" that are not among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic before the nationwide deadline of May 31.
"Lifting the state of emergency in many of 34 prefectures that exclude those under specific cautions will likely come in sight as many prefectures have been seeing no fresh infections lately," Nishimura said in a debate on public broadcaster NHK.
Nishimura, who is in charge of the government's overall coronavirus response, said a declining trend in the weekly number of new infections and the number of new cases on a per capita basis will be among evaluation criteria for the lifting.
Japan extended its nationwide state of emergency last week to the end of May but said it would reassess the situation at a coronavirus task force meeting on May 14 and possibly lift the measures earlier for some prefectures.
Out of Japan's 47 prefectures, the government has designated 13 prefectures including Tokyo and Osaka where the virus has spread rapidly as "the prefectures under specific cautions".
Nishimura said some of the 13 prefectures could also be among the areas to be brought out of lockdown measures before the deadline.
Japan considers lifting state of emergency for 17 prefectures
May 8, 2020
Lifting state of emergency to be reviewed on a weekly basis
May 6, 2020
Abe’s delicate balancing act in extending state of emergency
May 5, 2020
Japan extends state of emergency to May 31
May 5, 2020
Criteria listed for lifting state of emergency over COVID-19 crisis
May 4, 2020
Abe set to extend state of emergency until May 31
May 3, 2020
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of the new coronavirus measures on May 7 (The Asahi Shimbun)
