Nippon Professional Baseball and the J. League remained noncommittal about a timeline for getting back on their respective fields of play following the sixth meeting of their joint task force on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday, with officials from both leagues seemingly resigned to playing behind closed doors when their competitions are able to resume.
Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University professor Mitsuo Kaku, leader of the task force's medical panel, said the two weeks that have elapsed since the Japanese government declared a state of emergency in seven prefectures — which has since been expanded to cover the entire nation — has not provided the time needed to collect enough data for the leagues to come to any decisive conclusions. The state of emergency is in effect until May 6, though the task force does not expect it to be lifted then. The government will reexamine whether or not the order should be extended early next month.
“We’re seeing a decrease in the number of new patients but our medical facilities are facing very difficult situations,” Kaku said.