The Tokyo metropolitan government has decided to maintain the highest alert level of its four-tiered assessment for the situation surrounding novel coronavirus infections and the medical care system at a monitoring meeting on Thursday.
The seven-day average of new infections in the capital through Thursday was 649.6, according to the metropolitan government. The positive test rate as of Thursday stood at 7.6%, the highest since the state of emergency was lifted. The number of hospitalized patients has been hovering at 2,129.
"The number of new infections is increasing rapidly," an expert who attended Thursday's meeting said. "We must immediately implement the strongest measures to combat the virus and prevent an explosive spread of infections."
The central government task force's subcommittee on the coronavirus has recently asked the metropolitan government to strengthen its request toward business operators to shorten their operating hours.
"I wonder how many people would actually cooperate just because we strengthened our request," Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike told reporters when asked about the move on the day.
The metropolitan government has already asked restaurants and other establishments to refrain from operating after 10 p.m. The governor appeared to have expressed caution regarding asking them to shorten their business hours even further.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
