The Tokyo Metropolitan Government decided to deactivate its virus alert and move to the third and final stage of its plan to reboot businesses and reopen society on Thursday.
Phase three of the city’s coronavirus road map entails lifting business closure requests for entertainment and recreational facilities. These include karaoke establishments, bars, pachinko parlors, arcades and amusements parks, among others. Restaurants and bars will be invited to stay open until midnight, and public events will be limited to a thousand people.
"In this third and final stage, nearly all business closure requests in Tokyo will have been lifted," Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said Thursday during a meeting of the city's coronavirus task force. "It will be a long time until treatment or vaccination is available, so we must learn to live with the coronavirus and maintain the necessary precautions to prevent a second wave."