The top government spokesman said Saturday some restrictive measures against the coronavirus could be kept in place even if the COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo, Osaka and eight other prefectures is lifted as scheduled on June 20.
The government may scale down the state of emergency to quasi-emergency measures, which allow local authorities to impose restrictions such as requesting eateries to close early, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said on a TV program.
His remarks came a day after the government extended by three weeks the emergency declaration for nine prefectures and quasi-emergency steps in five other prefectures to June 20, just over a month before the Olympics begin in the capital. In Okinawa, the state of emergency was already due to remain in force until that date.