The government is increasingly concerned that it will be difficult to fully lift the state of emergency on May 6, given the unceasing spread of the new coronavirus.
In particular, it is deemed "unlikely" the state of emergency will be lifted in the 13 prefectures designated as needing stricter measures, as they have not seen an end to the outbreak, according to a senior government official.
The government is expected to make a final decision on whether to end or extend the emergency in early May based on expert analysis.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference Friday: "The situation is changing every minute. We will decide on the extension after hearing from experts."
In the 13 prefectures on special alert, the pace of increase in the number of virus cases has slowed, but the situation remains unpredictable in some areas, including Tokyo. A senior Cabinet Secretariat official said, "The state of emergency will be extended if the number of infected people does not drastically decrease this month."
If the emergency is extended, it will inevitably have a greater impact on the economy and people's lives, as schools and stores will remain closed for longer. The government is carefully considering a strategy, including a plan to keep the period of extension to less than a month so that it is lifted toward the end of May.
There are also voices calling for maintaining the state of emergency in the remaining 34 prefectures not on special alert so that measures against the spread of the virus can be implemented nationwide.
The emergency declaration was expanded after people were seen traveling to other prefectures from the seven prefectures where the declaration was first made, including Tokyo and Osaka, and some governors called for their prefectures to be included under the state of emergency.
If the declaration is lifted for these 34 prefectures not on special alert, it is feared there could be a similar flow of people moving between prefectures. A senior official of the Prime Minister's Office said, "We have not received any calls from governors to end the state of emergency."
The government is also considering lifting some of the restrictions while maintaining requests for people to refrain from going out, or extending the period after increasing or decreasing the number of prefectures designated as being on special alert, depending on the situation.
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