TOKYO, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said Wednesday the COVID-19 situation in the capital remains severe and she will ask the Japanese government to extend its virus state of emergency beyond the May 31 deadline, local media said Wednesday.
Nine prefectures currently under the state of emergency declaration, including Tokyo and the western prefecture of Osaka, are set to see emergency virus measures lifted at the end of this month.
Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, the most recent to be added to the list of prefectures where enhanced antiviral measures are in place, is supposed to see emergency virus measures expire on June 20.
But some prefectural governors, including Koike believe that the emergency measures have not yielded sufficient results and daily infections are still high and hospital facilities are overburdened.
"While the daily number of new coronavirus cases is declining, it remains at a high level and the situation is still severe," Koike told an expert panel on Wednesday.
Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura and the governors of Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures on Wednesday, meanwhile, also said they will request the central government extend the virus state of emergency.
On Tuesday, Fukuoka Governor Seitaro Hattori, similarly, said he had made the request for the extension to be formalized.
Japanese health minister Norihisa Tamura said earlier this week that extending the current COVID-19 state of emergency is under consideration with the Japanese government deliberating on whether to extend the emergency period for the nine prefectures including Kyoto, Hyogo, Aichi, Fukuoka, Hokkaido, Hiroshima and Okayama until June 20.
Another option being considered is an earlier exit from the state of emergency on June 13, informed sources have said.
Tamura said that in some instances the coronavirus situation is worsening and before the government makes a decision on extending the emergency period an assessment will be made as to whether the severity of the COVID-19 situation for the affected prefectures has improved from the highest on its four-tier alert scale.
Japan's third state of emergency took effect in Tokyo, Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto on April 25 and was already extended once from the initial end date of May 11.
The emergency was expanded to Aichi and Fukuoka, then Hokkaido, Okayama and Hiroshima, before Okinawa was included on Sunday.
The central government, under fire for its slow vaccination rollout with just two month to go until the scheduled start of the Tokyo Olympics, has said it will make a final decision on the extension on Friday. Enditem
