Japan to ease curbs on social contact and let some facilities reopen

May 04, 2020 | News On Japan

May 04, 2020 (Japan Times) - The government has decided to allow the reopening of parks, museums, libraries and other public facilities in areas with high coronavirus counts and to ease its request for slashing social contact, a senior official said Sunday.

As part of efforts to deal with public fatigue from the nationwide state of emergency, economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said at a news conference the government will permit such facilities to reopen if sufficient measures to slow the virusâ€™s spread are put in place.

The government will release guidelines on how to resume social activities on Monday, when it is expected to formally extend the state of emergency. A government source said Sunday that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will extend the declaration until May 31. Abe will hold a news conference on the matter at 6 p.m. Monday.

The plan will even apply to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hokkaido, Fukuoka and eight other prefectures the government has singled out as needing stepped-up measures against the virus, said Nishimura, who is in charge of issues related to the emergency declaration.

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