Photo/Illutration Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike says on April 7 she is preparing to ask the central government to designate Tokyo for pre-emergency measures. (Momoko Ikegami)

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said April 7 she was considering seeking pre-emergency measures from the central government to stem the surge in novel coronavirus infections in the capital.

She added that she would make a final decision after consulting with the Tokyo metropolitan government’s panel of experts in a meeting scheduled for April 8.

Koike met with reporters on April 7 and indicated she was preparing to ask the central government for the pre-emergency measures, given that there were 555 new COVID-19 cases that day, the first time the daily figure has exceeded 500 in about two months.

The state of emergency for Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures was lifted on March 22, but the Tokyo metropolitan government has continued asking bars and restaurants to close at 9 p.m. until April 21.

The pre-emergency measures give prefectural governments more authority to ask or even order businesses to curtail their operating hours.

Such measures have been in place since April 5 for Osaka city, Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture and four cities in Hyogo Prefecure—Kobe, Nishinomiya, Amagasaki and Ashiya. Those measures are to last at least until May 5.

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