Photo/Illutration Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike explains the extension of the “rebound alert period” at a COVID-19 task force meeting on April 21. (Provided by the Tokyo metropolitan government)

Japan’s two biggest cities decided to retain some anti-virus restrictions at bars and restaurants because new COVID-19 cases are not declining fast enough.

The number of newly confirmed novel coronavirus infections has been dropping in both Tokyo and Osaka.

However, local leaders are concerned about a resurgence in cases, especially with the Golden Week holidays coming up.

The Tokyo metropolitan government’s “rebound alert period” was scheduled to be abolished on April 25. But the government’s COVID-19 task force decided at a meeting on April 21 to extend the period until May 22.

Some restrictions will still be eased on April 25, mainly for eating establishments that have been certified by metropolitan government officials as having taken appropriate anti-virus measures.

Up to eight guests will be allowed to sit at one table, double the current maximum of four.

However, dining parties will continue to be asked to limit their stays to under two hours.

And uncertified bars and restaurants will still be asked to stop serving alcoholic beverages at 9 p.m.

“The numbers of new COVID-19 cases and patients who develop serious symptoms are both trending downward,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said of the situation in the capital at a news conference following the task force meeting.

But she said she decided to extend the rebound alert period because the daily average of new cases remains at a high level, and foot traffic is expected to increase when the Golden Week holiday period starts next week.

“We would like to further curb the number of new cases,” she said.

About 109,000 of the estimated 120,000 eateries in the capital were certified as of April 15.

Koike said Tokyo decided to raise the maximum for party size because certified eateries are taking even stronger anti-infection measures, and more than 50 percent of Tokyo residents have received booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The maximum of “eight people” was chosen because booths and round tables are used by six to eight guests, Koike said.

Tokyo’s expert panel on novel coronavirus measures earlier reported that the daily average of new infections in the capital for the week to April 20 was 6,006, 82 percent of the figure for the preceding week and the smallest average since COVID-19 pre-emergency measures were lifted on March 22.

But a panel member said, “We should continue to be vigilant for the possibility that new cases might rebound before they decline to a sufficiently low level.”

The Osaka prefectural government’s task force on April 21 decided to end its “intensive alert period” on April 25.

The period was set up to curb infections around the turn of the fiscal year from late March to early April, when many people are busy, relocating and gathering outside.

But Osaka will keep some measures in place until May 22, such as asking eateries to limit the number of guests per table to four.

“A large number of people will move or travel around during Golden Week, but we won’t ask them to refrain from doing that,” Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said at the task force meeting. “We will try to strike a balance between anti-virus measures and societal and economic measures.”

The daily average of new cases for the week through April 20 was 3,294 in Osaka Prefecture, about 82 percent of the level for the previous week.

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