On Sunday May 23, Okinawa was placed under Japan’s third state of emergency, joining Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Aichi, Okayama, Hiroshima and Fukuoka where tougher measures have been implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19. According to several news reports, a government spokesperson has hinted that the state of emergency could be extended beyond its current May 31 end-date.
According to Kyodo News, the government will consider whether to downgrade the above-mentioned nine prefectures (excluding Okinawa) to quasi-emergency status or continue with the current state of emergency. Okinawa’s the only prefecture right now to have its emergency status stay in place until June 20. Hence, if the state of emergency were to be extended for the other nine prefectures, the new end-date will most likely coincide with Okinawa’s June 20.
A decision on the possible extension will be made based on three criteria: the number of infections, hospital bed occupancy rate, and people’s movements.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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