Japan to lift COVID-19 state of emergency

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Japan, for most of the country, will lift nationwide state of emergency imposed to battle coronavirus, while keeping it enforced in the capital Tokyo and seven other provinces.

The decision to roll back the state of emergency came after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government noted the pandemic “is currently not spreading widely” and number of cases were continuously falling in 39 provinces.

Japan imposed emergency early last month for a period of one month to combat COVID-19 and later extended it until May 31.

The country has reported over 16,000 confirmed coronavirus cases so far, while 678 people have died due to the infection.

But the government decided to continue with the emergency situation in Tokyo and other seven provinces including Osaka, the Kyodo news reported.

Health experts have been tasked to analyze the daily coronavirus data and recent situation hospitals face.

Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister for economic revitalization, said: "We believe it's appropriate to lift the state of emergency for the prefectures."

As the country progresses out of the coronavirus situation, people have been encouraged to adopt “a new lifestyle without letting their guard down” against the infection.

Travel between areas under the state of emergency will be avoided while people have also been implied to not attend confined and crowded places.

Since appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions, with its epicenter having shifted to Europe and the US.

The pandemic has killed over 297,200 people, with total infections surpassing 4.35 million, while more than 1.55 million people have recovered from the disease, according to figures compiled by the Johns Hopkins University.