Media, executive ready to extend measures to 12 September
(ANSA) – TOKYO, AUGUST 17 – The Japanese government is preparing to extend the state of emergency, currently in force in Tokyo and the adjacent provinces, until September 12, adding seven other prefectures to the list. Government sources anticipate this to the Japanese media, pending the decision that will be communicated by the executive in the late afternoon local time.
The state of emergency, operational until August 31 in seven prefectures: Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka, will therefore in all likelihood be extended to deal with the alarming expansion of infections nationwide across much of the country. archipelago.
Under the provisions in force, bars, restaurants and karaoke will not be able to serve alcohol after 19, and will have to anticipate closing at 20. With the capital Tokyo and the adjacent prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama – as well as Osaka and the island Okinawa, the total number of territories subjected to a state of emergency until 12 September will therefore rise to 13.
A less rigid version of the state of emergency is instead in place in 16 other prefectures, and will also be extended to 12 September.
The executive headed by Conservative Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will announce the decision after a meeting and approval by the commission of medical experts in the afternoon, late morning in Italy. In the capital Tokyo, one week after the start of the Paralympics, the number of intensive care patients increased to 268, updating the record for the seventh consecutive day. (HANDLE).