In hopes of propping up the economy, Yasutoshi Nishimura, the Cabinet minister in charge of the country’s response to the novel coronavirus, announced Friday that Tokyo would become eligible for the controversial Go To Travel campaign, a ¥1.35 trillion government plan to promote domestic tourism, on Oct. 1.
While professional baseball and soccer matches will continue to be capped at 50 percent capacity, the central government will no longer limit attendance to 5,000 spectators from Sep. 19, the first day of a four-day holiday. The government’s novel coronavirus subcommittee is expected to endorse the decision later Friday.
“We’ve reached a point where we can slowly ease on the brakes and cautiously lift restrictions on dining and travel as we try to revive the economy,” Nishimura said during a news conference Friday evening. “That is, of course, under the pretense that safety measures will be maintained for the time being.”