The nation's health care system is still straining at the seams even as the daily number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to drop significantly.

At the same time, extreme concern has been expressed about new variants of the virus that may be spreading fast. To prevent a new wave of novel coronavirus infections, no stone must be left unturned in the process of moving to a return of normal social and economic activity.

In the meantime, the government decided to lift its state of emergency for six prefectures ahead of its scheduled March 7 deadline but maintain the measure for Tokyo and three adjacent prefectures. The state of emergency for the six prefectures will end on Feb. 28, a week ahead of the other prefectures.

As the infection situation has improved to “Stage 3,” which denotes new cases are growing fast and is the second-highest category in the four-level COVID-19 alert system, most of these six prefectures called on the central government to end the restrictions.

A new fiscal and academic year starts in April, which marks a period when many people are on the move. This is a time when students enter a higher-level school or join a company while corporate employees are transferred to new positions. Invariably, people want to celebrate and eat out together.

After a month and a half of putting up with all sorts of restrictions, the public's mindset could change radically when the state of emergency is terminated, leading to a surge in activity that triggers a fresh wave of infections. The move requires meticulous preparations to respond to possible changes in the situation.

The government plans to gradually ease its requests for shorter business hours at bars and restaurants as well as limits on the number of participants at events.

But it is not planning to resume the "Go To Travel" tourism promotion campaign at this stage. Despite the importance of keeping the economy on track as much as possible while working to bring the outbreak under control, it is vital to avoid mixing up policy priorities.

To detect early signs of a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, it is essential for the authorities to beef up the nation’s capabilities to test for the virus.

It is especially important to ensure that staff members and residents at facilities for elderly people, which are generally susceptible to clusters of infections, will receive tests regularly.

Tests should also be made widely available in urban shopping and entertainment districts, which tend to become ground zero sites of new outbreaks. The state of emergency will remain in place, at least for the time being, for Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures, where there are signs that the downward trend in the daily numbers of new COVID-19 cases is bottoming out.

Some experts fear that the numbers could take an upturn again. The government needs to keep closely monitoring related data until the deadline and take great care in lifting it.

Messages from political leaders can be important in securing continued public support and cooperation.

Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura took an ill-advised step in a premature attempt to free the prefecture from the restrictions. At the outset of February, Yoshimura unveiled the prefecture’s own criteria for lifting the state of emergency, which included lower standards than those adopted by the central government. In doing so, he faced the wrath of the medical community.

Even after the situation improved to levels that fulfill the criteria in early February, Yoshimura did not ask the central government to lift the measure and apologized to deeply disappointed eating and drinking businesses. This is a cautionary tale about how rash, premature policy actions could cause confusion.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has done no better in this respect. Suga abruptly canceled a news conference on Feb. 26 despite the government’s decision to lift the state of emergency for six prefectures and only offered to answer questions from reporters while mingling with them.

Some say he did so to avoid a news conference being led by Makiko Yamada, the public relations secretary embroiled in a wining and dining scandal involving satellite broadcaster Tohokushinsha Film Corp., for which Suga’s eldest son works. If that is the case, Suga failed to do the first thing to avoid political embarrassment.

Suga called on the public to continue making determined efforts to prevent a spread of infections so the state of emergency can be lifted also for the Tokyo metropolitan area on March 7, as scheduled. But it is doubtful whether his call was taken seriously.

The administration cannot fulfill its political responsibility to protect people's lives and livelihoods unless it raises its ethical standards and responds more sincerely to requests from the public.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 27