The government is leaning toward leaving in place the state of emergency declared in 10 prefectures, at least for this week, media reports said Wednesday, instead of lifting it in three prefectures.
Multiple media outlets, including Fuji TV, reported that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s administration is in the final stages of making a decision on maintaining the emergency declaration. It is currently in effect for Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, Gifu, Aichi and Fukuoka prefectures.
The central government was initially considering downgrading three prefectures — Aichi, Gifu and Fukuoka — from the state of emergency to a new measure effective Saturday that would allow local governors to adopt flexible COVID-19 countermeasures while still being able to order powerful restrictions, such as ordering businesses to close early or even completely on a temporary basis.
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