The Japanese government’s advisory committee decides to lift the emergency situation in the metropolitan area from the 21st

Emergency release in two and a half months
It’s right in front of the Olympics…more concerns

[이미지출처=AP연합뉴스]

[아시아경제 이현우 기자] The Japanese government’s COVID-19 advisory committee has decided to lift the emergency situation currently in force in four metropolitan areas, including the capital Tokyo area. As such, Japan’s Corona 19 emergency is expected to be completely lifted from the 21st, two and a half months after the declaration. With the Tokyo Olympics approaching ahead, there are also concerns that a premature release of the emergency situation could return to a greater proliferation.

According to foreign media such as NHK, on ​​the 18th, the Japan Corona 19 Advisory Committee decided to completely lift the ongoing emergency in four areas in the metropolitan area, 1 province, 3 prefectures, including Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba Prefecture from the 21st. It is reported that the release of the emergency will be officially announced by the Japanese government later this afternoon. With this, it is expected that all of the corona 19 emergencies in the metropolitan area of ​​Japan, which lasted for the past two and a half months, will be lifted.

The declaration of emergency in Japan’s metropolitan area originally took effect with a one-month deadline from January 8th, but it has been extended two times due to the rapid increase of new confirmed cases and has continued to this day. The advisory committee said that the decision to lift is based on the judgment that the rate of use of beds in four areas of the metropolitan area, which is an emergency target area, is decreasing, and that the number of daily confirmed cases in Japan is around 400, and has entered a stable phase.

However, in the case of Kanagawa Prefecture, even after the emergency is lifted, it is said that it will continue to restrict business operations to 9 p.m. in the case of restaurants until the end of this month. This is interpreted because there is great concern that the sudden release of the emergency situation could lead to a large-scale spread again in the context of the Tokyo Olympics in July.

“Even after the emergency is lifted, we ask you to wear a mask when talking at a restaurant and take basic infection measures thoroughly,” said Yasto Nishimura, the head of economic regeneration at a press conference. “I said.

Reporter Lee Hyun-woo [email protected]