Ahead of Tokyo Olympics 2021, Japan to extend COVID-19 states of emergency

Japan is looking to extend a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas by about three weeks to June 20, a cabinet minister said on Friday, as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of easing less than two months before the Summer Olympics open.

The state of emergency in the capital and eight other prefectures had been scheduled to end on May 31, but strains on the medical system remain severe. Japan’s southern island of Okinawa is already under a state of emergency set



to end on June 20.

“In Osaka and Tokyo, the flow of people is starting to creep up, and there are concerns that infections will rise,” Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who also heads the country’s coronavirus countermeasures, said at the start of a meeting with experts.

The experts later approved the government proposal and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is expected to officially announce the extended state of emergency later on Friday.