The government intends to extend the nationwide state of emergency announced to help combat the spread of the new coronavirus, with the declaration likely to remain in place until end of May, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The initial declaration made earlier this month is scheduled to stay in effect until May 6. However, the government has decided extending the declaration will be essential for robustly preventing the spread of infections across Japan. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will soon make a final decision on whether to extend the declaration after seeking the advice of experts.
Abe indicated Wednesday that it could be difficult to lift the state of emergency under the current severe conditions. At the House of Councillors Budget Committee, Abe said it remains difficult to say whether the state of emergency "will have ended" by May 6.
A senior government official was more direct. "Extending the state of emergency once will be unavoidable," the official told The Yomiuri Shimbun on Wednesday.
The official suggested the length of the extended period would be "slightly shorter" than the initial state of emergency. The extension could possibly be for less than one month. Should that be the case, a plan to extend the declaration until the end of May is looking highly likely.
There is a growing belief that, if priority is to be given to stamping out infections, any extended state of emergency will need to be applied to the entire country. Should the declaration be lifted only in some areas, there are concerns that more people would travel from major cities to these regions, which could trigger another wave of infections.
Another idea being floated would restrict the declaration to areas such as the 13 prefectures the central government has designated as "special alert" prefectures because they have a high number of infections.
The government could hold a meeting of a group of experts considering steps to combat the coronavirus as soon as Friday to hear their opinions on any decision to extend or lift the state of emergency. In addition, Abe will consult with a coronavirus response advisory panel by May 6 and then make his decision on the declaration.
Although the rate of increase in the number of infections has slowed, there is no room for complacency. The total number of infections in Tokyo has topped 4,100, and infections are increasing in other places. The push within the government to extend the declaration has been supported by fears that a possible surge in infections following the state of emergency being lifted could make collapse of the medical care system a very real prospect.
During a videoconference Wednesday, the National Governors' Association agreed to call on the central government to extend the state of emergency for the entire country. However, some members were cautious about an across-the-board declaration, so the association will soon present an urgent proposal after coordinating its wording.
A draft proposal stated it was "fundamental" that the declaration remain in effect for every prefecture, because lifting the state of emergency only in certain areas would generate new movements of people. Kyoto Gov. Takatoshi Nishiwaki said, "I agreed with keeping the declaration for all prefectures, because it would ensure the effectiveness of restrictions on people's movements between prefectures."
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike urged the government to quickly make a decision. "This is absolutely not the time to drop our guard. What will the government do for the period after May 7? I want the government to quickly show what it plans to do," Koike said.
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