People in the greater Tokyo area expressed anxiety Thursday about how their lives and businesses will be impacted by the declaration of another state of emergency in Tokyo and neighboring areas amid record numbers of COVID-19 cases.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's decision to declare a monthlong state of emergency to Feb. 7 was met with skepticism from some residents, who questioned the effect it will have on curbing infections.

"We have started to understand what kind of disease it is, so I feel like we are not facing the same sense of urgency that we had in spring last year," said Kunio Iyonaga, a 48-year-old commuter from Yokohama, at Tokyo's busy Shimbashi Station.

"But I still want (the government) to show us what we can do exactly to prevent infections," said Iyonaga, who has been working from home four days a week due to the spread of the virus.

The emergency declaration was set to come a day after the number of new infections in a day in Japan exceeded 6,000 for the first time, increasing concerns over strain on the medical system.