Sharjah24 – Reuters: Japan will declare a state of emergency in three more prefectures hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday, in a surprise move reflecting growing concerns about the virus's spread.
Hokkaido, Okayama and Hiroshima will on Sunday join Tokyo, Osaka and four other prefectures under a state of emergency until May 31, said Nishimura, who is also in charge of coronavirus countermeasures.
The government had originally proposed a more targeted "quasi-emergency" declaration for five additional prefectures.
"There were various views expressed at the meeting (with experts)," Nishimura told reporters after the meeting. "Based on those views, we retracted our original proposal and came up with this new one and got approval for it."
The other two prefectures will be added to the lesser declaration as planned.
The rising state of emergency declarations come as Japan grapples with a surge of a more infectious strain of COVID-19 just 10 weeks before the Tokyo Olympics are due to start.
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