The government presently has no plans to declare another state of emergency in response to the 224 new coronavirus cases confirmed on Thursday in Tokyo, citing that the medical care system is not under pressure.
While strengthening its vigilance toward the current status of the infections, the government will not change its plan to easing conditions to hold events beginning Friday.
"Compared to April, the number of severely ill patients has significantly declined, and many of those infected are in their 20s and 30s. Given these facts, the medical care system is not currently under pressure," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office. "We are carefully monitoring the status of the outbreak. We will continue to strengthen prevention measures against cluster infections, such as expanding the testing system and enhancing the capacities of public health centers, in cooperation with local governments."
At a press conference Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga explained that both the ratio of beds occupied by patients and the ratio of severely ill patients are low in Tokyo. "The government does not think that we should declare another state of emergency right now," Suga said. The easing of conditions for holding events "will go on as planned while taking sufficient measures to prevent infection."
Yasutoshi Nishimura, the economic revitalization minister, met with Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike on Thursday night and they agreed to step up efforts to stop infections among young people. "Because they are fine and asymptomatic, they can infect others without realizing," Nishimura told reporters, expressing concern.
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