Experts at a virus panel meeting Thursday gave their approval for government plans to downgrade the emergency in Tokyo, Aichi, Hokkaido, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka.
“We must do everything we can, and provide firm financial support as well,” to minimize risks of a resurgence of infections, said Dr. Shigeru Omi, head of a government COVID-19 panel.
Japan does not enforce hard lockdowns and the state of emergency allows prefectural leaders to order closures or shorter hours for non-essential businesses. Those that comply are compensated and violators fined. Stay-at-home and other measures for the general population are only requests and are increasingly ignored.
At a parliamentary Health and Labor Committee last week, Omi cautioned that holding the Olympics in the middle of the pandemic is “abnormal” and warned that it would increase the risk of infections.
A team of experts on Wednesday released a simulation showing a possible jump in cases during the Olympics if the spread of the new variants and people’s movements increase after emergency measures are eased.
Health Minister Norihisa Tamura told reporters the government would not hesitate to issue another emergency declaration even in the middle of the Olympics to protect people’s lives.
The state of emergency will remain in Okinawa, where hospitals are still overwhelmed, while Hiroshima and Okayama will be taken off the list.
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