Japan has no plans now to extend state of emergency to more regions – spokesman

Japan’s government said on Monday that it saw no reason at the moment to extend the state of emergency beyond Tokyo and a handful of other cities around the country.

“So far we have not been informed of any expert evidence suggesting that the state of emergency should be extended to Hokkaido or other regions,” chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said.

The central government declared a state of emergency last week, granting legal authority to governors in Tokyo and to six other potential virus hotspot prefectures to ask people to stay home and businesses to close. There are no penalties for non-compliance.

Tokyo saw 91 new cases of coronavirus infections on Monday, Reuters said. The figure showed a decrease in the rate of daily infections from Sunday, when the Tokyo metropolitan government reported 166 new cases.