Japan Economy Minister Nishimura: State of emergency no longer needed in any region of country

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As noted, Japan is seeking to end its state of emergency this week and in recent headlines, Japan's Economy Minister Nishimura is on the verge of making an announcement that the declaration will be lifted in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Hokkaido. 

Last week, Nishimura said Japan was yet ready to promote tourism and added that some restrictions will remain, even if the government lifts its state of emergency in all regions.

The nation has been on an incremental exit from the state of emergency continues for some time, where numbers of prefectures have been released from the lockdown.

A little over a month ago, health experts were saying Japan risked becoming one of the world’s coronavirus “disaster zones”, while it clung to the increasingly faint hope of hosting the Olympics this summer. So far,  with its ageing population of 126 million people has confirmed 16,569 cases, recoveries of 13,244 and 825 deaths out of a global death toll of more than 300,000 people.

Low rates of testing may be distorting the extent of infections

However, experts will continue to warn against complacency given that the low rates of testing may be distorting the extent of infections. The government’s own expert, Shigeru Omi, admitted recently that nobody knows whether the true number of coronavirus cases “could be 10 times, 12 times or 20 times more than reported”.

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