Despite a recent decrease in the numbers of new COVID-19 infections each day, the situation in Kansai remains precarious, with Osaka Prefecture preparing to discuss a request to have its state of emergency extended into June.
“It’s a very serious situation with the number of seriously ill patients and a lack of hospital beds. It’s not one where we can discuss lifting the state of emergency,” Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura told reporters on Friday.
At a Wednesday evening meeting of an expert panel that advises the health ministry, Takaji Wakita, director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and the panel’s head, warned that the situation in the Kansai region remains serious — particularly in Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures, which are under a state of emergency due to end May 31.