As the fourth wave of COVID-19 spreads beyond Japan's largest cities, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced Friday evening the state of emergency will be expanded to Hokkaido, Okayama and Hiroshima prefectures effective Sunday through the end of May.
Quasi-emergency countermeasures will also be implemented in several cities in Gunma, Ishikawa and Kumamoto prefectures from Sunday until June 13, adding to a growing list of areas under such restrictions.
By next week, the country’s third state of emergency will be in place in nine prefectures and quasi-emergency measures will be active in 10 others.
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