Xinhua, Tokyo :
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday the nation should be prepared for a long battle against the coronavirus pandemic, warning that the virus still remained a significant threat and preventative measures should be maintained.
The Japanese leader said that even though the state of emergency had been lifted for the majority of prefectures, the virus will remain a threat until a vaccine is developed and people should be prepared for further waves of the virus and the possibility of a long battle ahead.
Abe’s remarks, made at a plenary session of the upper house of parliament, came a day after the central government lifted a nationwide state of emergency for 39 of Japan’s 47 prefectures, while easing restrictions for the eight remaining prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka, will be considered next week.
The prefectures remaining under the state of emergency comprise urban areas such as Tokyo, the wider Tokyo metropolitan area and Osaka prefecture among others that have been harder-hit by the virus, with the government keen to see daily infections fall further to ease the strain on the nation’s medical system.
A panel of experts advising the government has proposed the infection rate should drop below 0.5 new cases per 100,000 people in the past week before the emergency state could be lifted in these areas.
For Tokyo, the epicenter of the pandemic here, the number of people infected with the virus from a population of around 14 million, would have to be less than 70 in one week, the advisory panel has recommended.
Citizens where the state of emergency has been lifted are still being requested by the government to continue to avoid crowded places and close contact with people, as well as not travel between prefectures where the state of emergency has been lifted and those where it remains in place.
Abe initially declared a state of emergency for one month for seven prefectures until May 6, this was expanded nationwide on April 16, with the deadline then extended to the end of May.
The Tokyo metropolitan government on Friday, meanwhile, released a roadmap for the easing of restrictions in the capital.
