Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Wednesday that the Japanese government will end the COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency in all 18 prefectures where it is still active next Monday as scheduled. Kishida explained that there is “a clear downward trend” in hospital bed occupancy rates, and that new infection rates have gone down by more than 50% compared to when infections were at their peak.
Kishida emphasized that the pandemic has not ended yet, and asked people to continue following guidelines such as social distancing and wearing masks. He also reported that Japan is securing more vaccination shots for a third booster round for children age 12 to 17, as well as a fourth round later this year for those at high risk.
The Japanese government declared the current quasi-state of emergency in Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Gunma, Kagawa, Aichi, Gifu, Mie,…
