Japan will decide during its Golden Week holiday between April 29 and May 6 whether to extend its monthlong state of emergency to fight a widening coronavirus outbreak, government and ruling party sources said Tuesday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the state of emergency, which gives governors in hard-hit prefectures more clout to ask residents to stay home and businesses to close, on April 7 for seven prefectures including Tokyo and Osaka. There are, however, no penalties for refusing those requests.
Abe, who has faced criticism for his response to the outbreak, expanded the emergency nationwide on April 16 to reduce travel during the Golden Week holidays, when many Japanese usually visit their hometowns or take other trips.