The government plans to extend the COVID-19 state of emergency in 19 prefectures through the end of this month. An official decision will be made this evening, and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will speak on the matter.
The state of emergency in two prefectures -- Miyagi and Okayama -- will be downgraded to less strict priority measures from Monday. In eight prefectures, including Miyagi and Okayama, to which priority measures are applied, the restrictions on serving alcohol to customers at eating and drinking establishments will be further relaxed if infections continue to decline.
On Thursday morning, the government held a subcommittee meeting of experts on basic measures to deal with the novel coronavirus. At this meeting, the policy was presented and approved to extend the state of emergency in 19 prefectures, including Tokyo, through Sept. 30.
In deciding whether to lift the state of emergency, the government utilized a new set of criteria that place greater emphasis on the medical system.
Economic Revitalization Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is also in charge of the response to the coronavirus, said at the meeting, "The medical system is still strained in 19 prefectures, though not Miyagi and Okayama."
In the 12 prefectures where priority measures are currently in effect, the occupancy rate for hospital beds for seriously ill patients has been kept low. New cases of infection are declining in Toyama, Yamanashi, Ehime, Kochi, Saga and Nagasaki prefectures, and the priority measures in these six prefectures will end on Sunday.
Priority measures will be applied to a total of eight prefectures, including Miyagi and Okayama, until Sept. 30. In areas where priority measures are in effect, the provision of alcohol to customers at eating and drinking establishments has been suspended, in principle.
In locations where infections are on a downward trend, the provision of alcohol so far has been allowed until 7 p.m. at the discretion of prefectural governors. This time the government will allow the provision of alcohol until 7: 30 p.m., or half an hour longer than the present restrictions.
It will also be possible, depending on the infection situation, to extend business hours by one hour until 9 p.m. and serve alcohol until 8 p.m.
Taking into account the progress of vaccinations in Japan and overseas, the government intends to gradually ease border control measures. It plans to shorten the quarantine period for people returning from abroad and reentering Japan to 10 days from the current 14 days.
Nearly 50% of the population has received two shots of vaccine, and the figure is expected to exceed 60% between late September and October. The government will expedite specific measures for using vaccination certificates and negative test certificates to relax restrictions on social activities, based on consultations with local governments and businesses, and the result of trial runs.
The massive increase in infections has been taking place in Europe and the United States, despite significant progress there with vaccinations. The Japanese government will therefore do its utmost to secure medical services in preparation for the coming winter, a period in which the coronavirus is likely to thrive.
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