By Ahmet Furkan Mercan
TOKYO (AA) – The Japanese government will lift a state of emergency over COVID-19 in Tokyo and its neighboring provinces on Sunday night.
Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide made the decision after listening to the views of experts.
He noted that the restrictions applied so far have produced "good results.”
The state of emergency since January in the capital Tokyo as well as Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba will end Sunday night.
It is the second one imposed by Japanese authorities to stem the spread of the virus. Japan’s first state of emergency was declared on April 7 last year.
The country has reported 452,147 COVID-19 cases, including 8,750 deaths, since the outbreak began and 429,742 recoveries, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.
*Writing by Gozde Bayar