COVID-19 Cases in Japan Rise Again... Possibility of Emergency Declaration Extension (Update)

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] As the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) accelerates in Japan, there are forecasts that the state of emergency will also be extended.

According to NHK, on the 28th, 282 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Japan. As a result, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in Japan, including 712 cruise ship passengers, reached 14,607. The increase in COVID-19 cases in Japan had recently shown a declining trend. However, concerns grew as the number rebounded again the previous day.

Looking at the daily increase, the number of new cases remained in the 400s from the 22nd to the 24th, then dropped to the 300s on the 25th, the 200s on the 26th, and the 100s on the 27th. However, the number of new cases rose again to the 200s.

The region with the highest cumulative confirmed cases was Tokyo, recording 4,059 cases. Following that, Osaka has reported 1,553 cases so far.

Initially, Japan considered lifting the state of emergency in some regions. However, local governments and experts in Japan are concerned that lifting it in certain areas could lead to a significant spread of infection during human movement.

Regarding this, NHK reported that the Japanese government plans to carefully assess and make a decision on whether to extend the state of emergency declaration based on the infection situation across various regions.

For now, the Japanese government has held an expert meeting this week and requested data analysis from experts ahead of the decision to extend the state of emergency declaration, which is currently set to last until the 6th of next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.