Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Friday night that he made the decision to expand the state of emergency after hearing the opinions of experts.
The government had planned to forgo expanding the state of emergency, but decided to change the plan and issue emergency declarations for Hokkaido, Okayama and Hiroshima prefectures.
"Experts indicated that a more severe response was necessary. We respected the experts' opinions and made a decision," Suga said at a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office.
Suga called for thorough countermeasures against the spread of the coronavirus, saying, "It is the important time to stop the spread of the virus.
Regarding the results so far of the emergency measures, Suga said, "In Osaka, the number of newly infected people has started to decrease, while in Tokyo, it has remained approximately unchanged."
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