Photo/Illutration Yasutoshi Nishimura, right, the state minister in charge of the central government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, prepares to take part in an Aug. 17 meeting of experts, including Shigeru Omi, left, the panel chairman. (Kazuhiro Nagashima)

A majority of Japan’s 47 prefectures will be subject to COVID-19 restrictions as the central government grapples with reining in the toughest novel coronavirus wave yet.

The government’s task force approved on Aug. 17 not only extending the deadline for the state of emergency and pre-emergency measures, but it also added 17 prefectures to the list on top of the 12 already covered.

The state of emergency for six prefectures, including Tokyo, its three neighbors as well as Osaka and Okinawa will be extended beyond the Aug. 31 deadline, until Sept. 12.

Seven prefectures will be added under the state of emergency from Aug. 20 until Sept. 12: Tochigi, Ibaraki and Gunma in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area; Shizuoka in the Tokai region; Hyogo and Kyoto, which border Osaka; and Fukuoka on the main southern island of Kyushu.

Pre-emergency measures will be implemented as of Aug. 20 for 10 more prefectures: Miyagi, Yamanashi, Toyama, Gifu, Mie, Okayama, Hiroshima, Kagawa, Ehime and Kagoshima.

The government’s expert panel dealing with the pandemic gave the proposal its nod at a meeting that same day.

Yasutoshi Nishimura, the state minister in charge of economic revitalization who also leads the central government effort against the pandemic, started the meeting with a stark reminder that the nation is in the grips of a more intense coronavirus surge than what it has faced before.

“The situation is an unprecedented one around the nation, where the pace at which new infections are spreading is on a totally different scale,” he said.

In the 29 prefectures covered by the state of emergency or pre-emergency measures, governors can ask bars and restaurants to refrain from serving alcohol.

Those prefectures will also be asked to impose entry restrictions on customers at commercial outlets with a floor space of at least 1,000 square meters. Prefectural governors will also be given the option of asking these outlets to close shop on weekends.

It follows reports of infection clusters arising among customers who shopped in congested food-product areas in department stores.

Nishimura also said the government would make other requests with the goal of halving pedestrian traffic in congested locations. That includes calling on residents to cut down on the number of their shopping trips by half.

COVID-19 cases continue to rise sharply around the nation, due mainly to the more virulent Delta variant.

New daily cases topped 20,000 for the first time on Aug. 13, and the number of COVID-19 patients with serious symptoms has also been rising, particularly among those in their 40s and 50s.

Aug. 16 marked the fourth straight day in which a record number of patients with serious symptoms were reported, with a total of 1,603 around Japan.

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