Japan will extend COVID-19 quasi-emergency measures until March 6 in 17 other prefectures including Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka to curb coronavirus infections, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday.
But the measures will be lifted Sunday in five other prefectures -- Yamagata, Shimane, Yamaguchi, Oita and Okinawa -- he said, as the strain on hospitals has eased with daily infections showing signs of stabilizing.
The announcement comes as the country reported 95,208 new infections and the daily death toll hit a record high of 271 amid the latest wave of infections driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
All those prefectures but one are seeing their quasi-emergency measures expire on Sunday. The exception is Wakayama in western Japan, where the measures are set to expire Feb. 27.
The planned changes mean that 31 of Japan's 47 prefectures including Tokyo would remain until March 6 under a quasi-state of emergency that allows their governors to request that restaurants and bars close early and stop serving alcohol.
The quasi-emergency measures have been in place since January in many of the areas to prevent a surge in COVID-19 patients from overwhelming hospitals. Some health experts say the recent wave of infections has likely peaked.
Kishida said Thursday that the pace of Omicron's spread is beginning to slow in many areas of Japan.
"That being said, we will not lower our guard and will continue to take steps with a sense of utmost vigilance because the risk is that we will see more patients with severe symptoms with a lag," the prime minister said at a press conference.
Kishida did not rule out the possibility of ending the quasi-emergency measures before March 6 in consultation with local governments.
Tokyo reported 17,864 new cases on Thursday, down by 1,027 from a week earlier. But the capital also confirmed 24 deaths from the virus the same day, the most this year.
The metropolitan government in a coronavirus monitoring meeting said that while there is a downward trend in new infections, the number of elderly patients with more severe symptoms is increasing, with about 70 percent of those hospitalized being in their 60s or older.
The seven-day rolling average of daily infections stood at 14,936.1, down 16.3 percent from the previous week, while the number of those with severe symptoms remained unchanged at 81.
The highly transmissible strain tends to cause no or mild symptoms among those infected. But elderly people and those with underlying health conditions are more likely to develop severe symptoms, requiring medical treatment.
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