Asia Today: Japan easing emergency, Wuhan starts new testing
BANGKOK (AP) — Experts on Japan's coronavirus task force on Thursday approved a government plan to lift a state of emergency in most areas ahead of schedule except for Tokyo and several other high-risk areas.
Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said after the task force met that the experts approved lifting the emergency in 39 of the country’s 47 prefectures. Emergency measures would remain for eight others, including Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hokkaido, where risks still remain high.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had declared the state of emergency on April 7 for Tokyo and six other urban prefectures and later expanded it to the whole country through May 31. With signs of the infections slowing, Abe is seeking to relax the measure while balancing disease prevention and the economy.
Japan now has more than 16,000 confirmed cases, with about 680 deaths. The number of new cases has significantly decreased nationwide.
Abe will explain details at a news conference later Thursday. Experts are also expected to provide the basis for easing the measure, as well as its possible tightening if there is a resurgence.
Ehime prefecture in western Japan, where an outbreak in a hospital has infected about 20 nurses, patients and their families, will have the state of emergency lifted on the condition containment measures are taken and the infections are closely investigated, Nishimura said.
Experts and officials have urged people to adopt “new lifestyles” and continue practicing physical distancing measures such as remote-working and avoid out-of-town trips even after the state of emergency is lifted.
In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:
— WUHAN TESTING UNDERWAY: Some residential compounds in Wuhan have begun testing inhabitants for the coronavirus as a program to...
