The government is considering easing restrictions on alcohol service and travel in areas under a coronavirus state of emergency as early as October or November, depending on COVID-19 vaccination progress, the Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
Under a draft government roadmap, restaurants and bars that have taken anti-virus measures would be allowed to serve alcohol and stay open later during the state of emergency, once inoculation campaigns have proceeded over the next few months. The roadmap would also in principle permit people who have been vaccinated greater leeway to go out and about, and travel across prefectural lines.
The draft roadmap states that once sufficient progress has been made with vaccine rollout, "The spread of infection can be expected to be controllable to an extent, provided that basic infection prevention measures are taken," suggesting the possibility of balancing virus-control measures with efforts to restore the rhythms of daily life and social and economic activity.
Making use of vaccine certificates and negative virus test results, the government also intends to consider relaxing attendance caps at large-scale events and resuming initiatives such as the Go To Travel tourism campaign.
However, as some experts have expressed concern that easing restrictions may invite an uptick in infections,
the roadmap is likely to spark debate.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
