Suga extends Tokyo COVID emergency as Olympics hang in balance

The emergency was already lifted in most parts of the country by March 1. But Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the alert in the Tokyo area will last an extra two weeks, from the current deadline of Sunday. The new deadline of March 21 will be just ahead of the planned start of the Olympic torch relay on March 25 -- the date widely considered the point of no return for deciding whether to hold the games.

"We need two weeks to contain the spread of the infections and to carefully watch the situation," Suga explained to reporters. He cautioned that people's movements have been increasing in some areas, and "there is increasing fear of a rebound."

"I will cooperate with local municipalities to implement effective measures," he added, noting a renewed push to limit business hours, promote teleworking and discourage unnecessary outings. "I want to lower the level of hospital bed [occupancy] to more than sufficient levels."

Earlier the same day, Seiko Hashimoto, the new president of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, touched on the plan to extend the emergency. "If extending the SOE can alleviate the impact from COVID, that can make people in Tokyo feel safer," she told reporters.

Experts and data suggest the precautionary measures -- centered on shutting down nightlife and closing the border to nonresidents -- have worked so far, though not enough to ease off now.

Following a state of emergency in April and May 2020, the second nationwide alert took effect on Jan. 8, asking restaurants to close at 8 p.m., limiting participants at events and urging residents to stay home as much as possible. Japan's daily confirmed cases dropped to 1,192 as of Thursday, from the peak of 7,855 on Jan. 9. Tokyo's number also fell to 279, from 2,520 on Jan. 7.