The government plans to lift at the end of Thursday the state of emergency that is currently in effect in 19 prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka.
Given the nationwide situation regarding infections with the novel coronavirus, the government is not expected to enforce less-strict priority measures in those 19 prefectures. It also plans to lift at the end of Thursday the priority measures that are currently in effect in eight other prefectures.
The government is to finalize its decision Tuesday.
After returning from the United States, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was briefed on the latest situation by Hideki Tarumi, vice minister of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, and others at the Prime Minister's Official Residence on Sunday evening.
Earlier Sunday, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Norihisa Tamura said on an NHK program: "The downward trend in the number of newly infected people has not stopped. If this situation continues, we will be able to lift the state of emergency at the end of September."
Tamura also said the number of people receiving treatment at home, and the hospitalization rate, are "improving at a very fast pace."
The decision on whether to shift from a state of emergency to priority measures will be based on the opinions of experts and local governments, but a senior government official said there was no need to apply priority measures.
After the state of emergency is lifted, the government will gradually ease restrictions on residents' activities.
"As to whether we can immediately return to our normal lives, we have no choice but to do so gradually," Tamura said.
Restaurants that have been certified by the government will have looser restrictions on serving alcohol, their business hours and the number of people dining together for customers who have vaccination passports or certificates showing a negative test result. The government hopes to ease restrictions on a trial basis in mid-October and begin full-scale relaxation in November.
-- Governors seek clarification
The governors of Tokyo and the three prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa on Sunday jointly requested the government to clearly indicate its specific requests to restaurants, regarding such matters as business hours and how certified restaurants are to be handled, so that restrictions can be gradually eased when the state of emergency is lifted.
"To prevent a resurgence, it is necessary to proceed [with easing restrictions] in stages," Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike told journalists after submitting the governors' requests in a letter. Koike acknowledged that the infection situation in Tokyo and the three prefectures had improved.
According to a metropolitan government official, there are strong calls among Tokyo's municipal authorities for the central government to put Tokyo under priority measures after the state of emergency is lifted. However, the central government is not inclined to do so.
If the state of emergency is lifted, the metropolitan government is considering allowing restaurants to serve alcohol for the first time in about three months. Even if priority measures are not applied, the Tokyo government is working to set certain restrictions on the hours when alcohol can be served.
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