The Tokyo metropolitan government lifted Thursday its warning issued amid signs of a possible rise in new coronavirus cases, and on Friday eased business restrictions imposed to stop the spread of the virus in the capital.
The decision to move to so-called phase three of the Tokyo government's plan for reopening the economy effectively marks the complete end of business closure requests that had been in place for about two months since April 11.
Under phase three, karaoke parlors, pachinko parlors, video game arcades, amusement parks and other businesses may resume operations. The Tokyo government plans to allow nightclubs, small pubs, restaurants where staff entertain customers and other entertainment establishments not included in phase three to reopen from June 19.
The "Tokyo alert" was issued on June 2.
After the alert was lifted, restaurants are permitted to operate until midnight. All restrictions on operating hours will be dropped from June 19. Some restrictions remain on the scale of events that may be held – they must be 1,000 people or less, and indoor events must be 1,000 people or less and only up to 50% of capacity.
The decision to lift the alert and ease business restrictions rested on the city meeting three key benchmarks: The daily average of new confirmed cases over the most recent seven days had to be below 20; the proportion of cases with unclear infection routes had to be below 50%; and the rate of increase in the total weekly number of infections had to be at or below the previous week's.
As of Thursday, when 22 new cases were confirmed in Tokyo, the city met all three of these benchmarks, with figures of 17.9 people, 48.0% and 0.98, respectively.
The metropolitan government had lumped live music clubs together with restaurants where staff entertain customers during previous steps of the reopening plan, and decided on an approach in line with central government policies. However, it chose to allow these businesses to reopen their doors from June 19 because organizations in these industries and other entities will prepare guidelines for preventing the spread of coronavirus infections.
The Tokyo metropolitan government building in Shinjuku Ward and the Rainbow Bridge over Tokyo Bay were lit up in red after the Tokyo alert was issued. From late Thursday, both were illuminated in rainbow colors after the alert was lifted.
After the central government declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus, the Tokyo government requested on April 11 that entertainment facilities, recreation grounds, commercial complexes and a broad range of other businesses temporarily close, based on the revised law on special measures for new types of influenza. The day after the state of emergency was lifted on May 25, the Tokyo government moved to phase one of its reopening plan, under which schools, libraries and some others were permitted to open their doors. Under phase two, which was implemented on June 1, movie theaters, sports gyms and other some businesses were permitted to resume operating.
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