Japan expected to lift a state of emergency across a large part of the country except Tokyo
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to hold a news conference at 6 p.m. when he is expected to announce the lifting of the emergency in 39 of Japan’s 47 prefectures, but not in Tokyo.
“The focus is whether the government will lift the emergency in the big areas such as Tokyo and Osaka before the end of May, as was initially planned,” said Atsushi Takeda, chief economist at Itochu Research Institute.The emergency gives governors more authority to tell people to stay at home and to close schools and businesses, but there is no penalty for non-compliance.
The 39 prefectures in which the emergency is expected to be lifted account for 54% of Japan’s population. The government is set to add four economists to its advisory panel for combating the epidemic and another review will be conducted again in about a week. Japan has reported 16,100 cases of the coronavirus, not counting infections on a cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama port, and 696 deaths, according to public broadcaster NHK.
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