The government has begun making arrangements to add more prefectures to the list of areas under a state of emergency or pre-emergency priority measures, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga plans to discuss the issue with Yasutoshi Nishimura, minister in charge of economic revitalization, and other relevant Cabinet members on Monday evening. An official decision on whether to expand the measures will be made at a government task force meeting on Tuesday.
Ibaraki, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka are the four prefectures primarily being eyed for coverage under a state of emergency. About 10 other prefectures, including Mie and Hiroshima, would be placed under pre-emergency measures.
A state of emergency is currently in effect in six prefectures, including Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa, while the less-strict priority measures have been applied to 13 prefectures, including Ibaraki and Kyoto.
The government has been considering extending these measures beyond the scheduled Aug. 31 end date in response to the surge in novel coronavirus cases.
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