The government formally decided Thursday to lift all remaining coronavirus quasi-state of emergency curbs in Japan as scheduled next week as the number of new infections has recently been on a downtrend.
Tokyo and the nearby prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama are among the 18 areas that will see the restrictions end on Monday. Other areas include Aichi, Osaka and Kyoto.
With the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the virus from the beginning of the year, the number of prefectures subject to the curbs expanded to 36 at one point. The remaining 18 have seen the deadlines of the measures extended twice.
With the lifting, the country will be free of such measures for the first time since Jan. 8.
But as concerns remain about the contagious BA.2 subvariant, which could cause a resurgence of the virus and pressure the medical system, opposition parties have said it is premature to completely eliminate the restrictions.
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