Nippon Professional Baseball and the J. League held their first joint COVID-19 task force meeting of 2021 on Tuesday and received advice from the body’s medical panel as the two leagues prepare for their respective spring camps amid a new state of emergency in parts of Japan.
Tokyo and the neighboring Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba Prefectures entered the new state of emergency on Friday and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday that the order will be expanded to include Osaka, Hyogo and Aichi Prefectures.
The target date for lifting the state of emergency in Tokyo is currently Feb. 7. Some J. League teams are set to begin their training camps later this month while NPB camps are scheduled to start Feb. 1.