Fukuoka Prefecture plans to ask the government to lift the COVID-19 state of emergency ahead of the scheduled end date on March 7, sources said Wednesday.
The prefectural government had been saying it would make the request if the average number of new cases confirmed in a week dropped below 180 for seven days in a row and the percentage of hospital beds occupied dipped below 50%.
The prefecture has met the first criterion since Feb. 8, and the occupation rate of hospital beds, which had topped 70% at one time, declined to 49.6% on Monday.