Jan 12 (Japan Times) - Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday the government will expand a state of emergency declared over the coronavirus pandemic to Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures.
The declaration will be made as early as Wednesday, government sources said, adding that Gifu and Aichi prefectures may also come under the expansion at the same time.
Suga made the comment during an executive meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday morning.
The governors of the three western prefectures had asked the central government to extend the state of emergency, which took effect Friday for Tokyo and some neighboring areas, to their prefectures in response to a resurgence of the virus.
By declaring a state of emergency based on a law to address the spread of the virus, the central government enables local authorities to urge people to stay at home as much as possible and to call on eateries to shorten opening hours.
In April, Japan declared a state of emergency for some of the country’s 47 prefectures and later expanded it nationwide. The government fully lifted it in late May.
Suga last week declared the one-month state of emergency covering Tokyo and the neighboring prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama in response to a request from their governors.
Source: ANNnewsCH
