The government plans to ease the cap on attendees at large-scale events to 50% of venue capacity starting April 19 in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures. Starting after the state of emergency is lifted, the limit will be 10,000 through April 18.
The government, which is set to lift the state of emergency for Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama prefectures, has notified the metropolitan and local governments about its plan.
The government had initially intended to ease restrictions on such events in stages after lifting the state of emergency in the prefectures, which had been set for March 7.
According to the initial plan, the government planned to ease the upper limit of attendees from 5,000 to 10,000 through April 11, and then relax the restrictions to a maximum of 50% of a venue's capacity. If a venue has a capacity of 40,000, the number of attendees can be increased from 5,000 to 10,000, and then to 20,000.
Six other prefectures -- including Osaka and Kyoto whose declarations were lifted on Feb. 28 -- are expected to follow the government's initial plan.
With the state of emergency for Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama prefectures extended by two weeks, attention was focused on whether the timing for the easing of restrictions to the 50% cap should also be moved back by two weeks.
As some government officials emphasized the early resumption of social and economic activities, the government decided to move the date back by one week from the original date of April 12.
The venues for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics slated for this summer are concentrated in Tokyo and the three neighboring prefectures.
The move to ease restrictions is aimed at paving the way to allow spectators into the venues for the Games, observers said.
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