Three Japanese prefectures of Kyoto, Osaka and Hyogo will ask the central government to lift the state of emergency related to the coronavirus pandemic in the western areas by the end of the month, ahead of the March 7 deadline, officials said Monday.
The prefecture governors will hold an online meeting on Tuesday with economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is in charge of the country’s response to the pandemic.
The governor of another prefecture, Aichi in central Japan, said he has already made a similar request to the central government.
The state of emergency, Japan’s second in terms of the pandemic, was initially declared for a month on January 7 and included 11 prefectures, including Tokyo and the nearby prefectures. It was later extended to March 7 for 10 of the prefectures.
The Tokyo government, Yuriko Koike, is reluctant to lift the emergency declaration in the capital, which is still experiencing a “serious” infection.
Koike also said she plans to hold an online meeting on Tuesday with the governors of the three nearby prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa.
Kyoto, Osaka, and other prefectures striving to resolve the emergency cited improvements in the number of hospital beds available for COVID-19 patients and the diminishing rate of infections.
“New cases of infection have remained in double digits for days. (The state of emergency) should be lifted by the end of this month as we expect the number of hospital patients to decline further,” said Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura at A press conference.
Osaka government Hirofumi Yoshimura said his prefecture would discuss coordinated anti-virus measures with neighboring Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures on Tuesday before submitting their official requests. Gifu prefecture, adjacent to Aichi, also suggested this example should follow.
Kyoto government Takatoshi Nishiwaki said that even if the state of emergency is lifted, the prefecture would continue to call for restaurants and bars to shorten opening hours.
In Japan, the number of new coronavirus infections every day has declined, but health ministry officials said last week that the reduction was not enough to allay concerns about the burden on the medical system.
Tokyo, which continues to be the hardest hit of Japan’s 47 prefectures, has seen a decline in the number of new cases with 178 reported Monday, the first time the number has dropped below 200 since November 24 last year.
The census put the Japanese capital’s cumulative cases at 109,912.
However, the number of infections among the elderly, believed to be at higher risk of developing serious symptoms, has risen, with daily deaths in the capital often reaching double digits in total.
