As reported in The Japan Times, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has just announced that the state of emergency will end as scheduled for Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama prefectures next week. While the government is expected to make an official decision on the current restrictions on Thursday March 18, the Prime Minister said that the rate of hospitalisation has lowered to a point where it would be safe to ease restrictions without the medical system being overburdened. With the current state of emergency set to expire on March 21, restrictions will theoretically be lifted starting Monday March 22.
Though Japan's second state of emergency covering 11 prefectures was originally scheduled to end on February 7, restrictions for the Greater Tokyo region were eventually extended to March 21 after the government's advisory panel deemed it risky to ease restrictions too soon.
The Prime Minister will consult with the government advisory panel once again before coming to a final decision tomorrow, March 18, and will announce more details on how restrictions will be eased later in the day.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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