Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Japan recommends extending virus state of emergency four months out from Games

Economic revitalisation minister outlines non-mandatory requests for bars, restaurants and businesses to close at 8pm

Japan’s Covid-19 cases are slowly decreasing but controlling spread and introducing vaccines key for hosting Games

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A man wearing a face mask walks past the Olympic Rings in Tokyo, Japan in January. Photo: Carl Court/Getty Images

Published: 11:49am, 5 Mar 2021Updated: 11:49am, 5 Mar 2021

Four months out from the start of the Tokyo 2020 Games, Japan’s government will extend a state of emergency in the Tokyo region for another two weeks because its medical systems are still strained by Covid-19 patients, the minister in charge of virus response said on Friday.

“For two more weeks, we will keep the measure in place ... so that we can firmly ease strains on hospitals” to meet conditions for lifting the emergency measures, economic revitalisation minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters.

Nishimura said the government has received preliminary approval from experts to extend the emergency through March 21 for Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures. Prime minister Yoshihide Suga is to formally announce the plan on Friday night after parliament approval.

He said medical systems in the region are still burdened with Covid-19 patients and more hospital beds have to be freed.

Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga at a news conference at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo, Japan in January. Photo: Xinhua

Suga declared a month-long emergency on January 7 for Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba that was later extended through March 7. An emergency that applied to other urban prefectures was lifted last week, underscoring the government’s eagerness to allow businesses to return to normal as soon as possible.

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