The central government offered a mixed outlook for the nation Thursday when it comes to lifting the state of emergency imposed over the new coronavirus, easing restrictions imposed on three prefectures in the Kansai region but maintaining them on Hokkaido and the greater Tokyo metropolitan area.
The government advisory panel determined that new cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus, are declining in Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures to a level at which easing regulations is deemed acceptable.
At the same time, it determined that lifting the emergency declaration in Hokkaido, Tokyo and the prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama at this time could spark a resurgence of the virus, even though the overall number of new cases is falling.