Japan Expands COVID-19 Emergency Areas Ahead of Olympic Opening Ceremony

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunbyeol Kim] With the Tokyo Olympics opening just about two months away, the Japanese government has further expanded the areas under the COVID-19 state of emergency.

On the evening of the 14th, at a COVID-19 task force meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese government decided to issue a state of emergency for three additional prefectures: Hokkaido, Hiroshima, and Okayama. The state of emergency for these additional areas will be in effect from the 16th to the 31st.

As a result, the total number of prefectures under the state of emergency in Japan has increased to nine, including Tokyo and Osaka.

To curb the spread of COVID-19, the Japanese government has been responding in an emergency mode, having implemented the third state of emergency since the 25th of last month in Tokyo and other areas. However, as of the 13th, the average daily number of confirmed cases over the past week has exceeded 6,400, reaching levels comparable to the peak of the third wave in mid-January this year.

If the spread of COVID-19 continues in Japan, skepticism regarding the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to open on July 23, may increase.

According to the Mainichi Shimbun, Kenji Utsunomiya, former chairman of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and leader of an online petition opposing the Tokyo Olympics, submitted more than 350,000 signatures against the event to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Japanese government, and the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee on the same day.

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