The government is making arrangements to declare a full-fledged state of emergency in Tokyo and the prefectures of Osaka and Hyogo by the end of this week, according to sources.
It is discussing various issues with the three local governments, including the types of facilities that will be subject to requests to suspend their operations.
At a plenary session of the House of Councillors on Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said regarding Osaka Prefecture, "We want to closely examine the situation and consider the details of the measures as soon as possible to make a decision."
The Osaka prefectural government asked the central government on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency.
Tokyo and Hyogo Prefecture plan to make similar requests. Regarding these areas, Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of economic revitalization, said, "Although their situations differ, we share [the two governments' view] that things will become severe there in the days to come."
Nishimura is also in charge of the nation's COVID-19 pandemic response.
At a meeting of the House of Representatives Cabinet Committee on the day, Nishimura said: "We need to implement stronger measures in a focused manner. We want to work with local governments and consider the details of the measures swiftly, listening to the opinions of experts."
Emergency-level priority measures have been applied in Tokyo, Osaka and Hyogo, with their governments asking restaurants to shorten their business hours.
If a new state of emergency is declared, it will be possible to both request and order the suspension of operations.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
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