With the number of daily new coronavirus cases falling in Japan after four weeks of a nationwide state of emergency, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday that he would lift restrictions in 39 of the country’s 47 prefectures.
But the state of emergency — which gives local governors the power to close schools, encourage people to stay indoors and request that businesses close temporarily — will remain in place for the country’s eight most populated areas, including Tokyo and Osaka. Kyoto and the northernmost island, Hokkaido, will also remain under the emergency declaration.
Mr. Abe declared a state of emergency in seven prefectures on April 7 and expanded it to the entire nation about a week later. He later extended the emergency period, originally scheduled to end May 7, through the end of this month.
Japan has reported a total of 16,079 infections and 687 deaths from the coronavirus. On Thursday, the health ministry reported 57 new cases for the nation and 19 deaths.
After a meeting with a group that included public health officials and an economic adviser, Mr. Abe decided to lift the declaration in prefectures with low coronavirus case numbers. He said he would review the state of emergency for the remaining prefectures next week to determine whether it could be lifted before the end of the month.
Mr. Abe urged residents not to let their guard down after the emergency declaration is lifted. He asked that people continue to wash hands, abide by social distancing guidelines and wear masks when going out. He also asked residents to avoid crowds in enclosed, poorly ventilated places and refrain from visiting places like nightclubs, karaoke parlors and live music halls.
“We will have to create a new model in daily life from now on, and today is the start of that,” he said. He added that if infections begin to rise significantly again, “unfortunately we might have to resort to a second declaration of a state of emergency.”
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