Japan will extend the state of emergency for three weeks until May 31st Coronavirus pandemic News

The Japanese government on Friday will extend the state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas until the end of May, roughly until the end of May, to stop the rise of new cases of coronavirus a few months before the start of the Tokyo Olympics.

The government hoped the “short and strong” state of emergency would have a fourth wave of infection, but new cases in the capital Tokyo and the second city of Osaka are at high levels, said Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is also in charge of pandemic measures.

Extending the state of emergency until May 31 from May 11, the game will be canceled two months before July 23, which was delayed by a year due to the pandemic.

“Osaka in particular is in a pretty dangerous system with its medical system,” Nishimura said at the start of a meeting with a group of medical and economic experts on Friday, noting that strains of variants are spreading rapidly.

“We have a high risk that Tokyo will soon become in the same situation as Osaka.”

Nishimura said the panel later approved the extension plan. Formal government approval will be set a day later, with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga giving a press conference at 19:00 (10:00 GMT).

NHK public radio broadcast on Friday reported that all hospital beds in Osaka are occupied.

At the state level, Japan has recorded 618,197 new coronavirus infections and about 10,585 deaths as a result of COVID-19 due to the respiratory disease caused by the virus, government data have shown.

The state of emergency spread

Nishimura said the government wants to locate Aichi Prefecture in western Tokyo and Fukuoka Prefecture in the southwest under a state of emergency – merging with Tokyo and Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures, where nearly a quarter of the population lives.

The northern island of Hokkaido and two other areas will be added to regions with an “almost state of emergency,” he said.

Due to the prolonged state of emergency, bars, restaurants, karaoke rooms and other places where alcohol is served will continue to urge people to stop drinking alcohol to prevent people from making unnecessary trips.

But other requests will be eased, Nishimura said.

Shopping facilities, such as shopping malls, will be asked to shorten their hours instead of closing them completely – Tokyo and Osaka have indicated they will make decisions based on local conditions.

Japan has not suffered as badly from the virus as other countries, but its vaccination campaign is remaining significant, with many older people also waiting to be inoculated.

However, Japan and the International Olympic Committee stress that the Games will be held, even though they have banned foreign spectators. The decision about the home audience has yet to be made.

Upcoming tests for the Olympics, including weekend athletics tests, will not result in an extension of the state of emergency. The Diving World Cup, which brought together more than 200 athletes from 50 countries, was held in Tokyo last week under the current state of emergency.

U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer Inc. and German partner BioNTech SE said Thursday they will provide doses of the new coronavirus vaccine to help inoculate sports and other members of the Olympic delegation.

Still in Fukuoka, the prefectural governor said it could be “difficult” to organize an Olympic flashlight relay in a state of emergency, the Jiji news agency reported on Thursday.

The relay will be at the prefecture on May 11 and 12.