Japan decides to end COVID-19 emergency in Tokyo area Sun.

TOKYO, March 18 Kyodo - The Japanese government formally decided Thursday to end the COVID-19 state of emergency in the Tokyo region on Sunday as planned, having deemed another extension unnecessary as infections have declined from their peak and the strain on hospitals has eased. The move comes as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga seeks to revive a pandemic-stricken economy, though there is concern that easing restrictions could trigger a resurgence of infections after the capital saw the highest number of new cases in a month the previous day. "It is extremely important that people do not become complacent," the prime minister told a parliamentary session. Suga formally announced the lifting of the state of emergency in Tokyo and neighboring Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama prefectures, the last areas of the country under the measure, at a coronavirus task force meeting after an expert panel approved the decision. The Tokyo region has been under the state of emergency since early January, with people urged to refrain from nonessential outings and restaurants and bars told to close by 8 p.m. Businesses have been encouraged to adopt remote working and attendance at large-scale events such as concerts and sports games has been capped at half capacity up to a limit of 5,000. Infections have fallen since the restrictions were imposed, but the decline has bottomed out and even rebounded in some prefectures including Tokyo, which reported 409 new cases Wednesday, the most since Feb. 18. Opposition lawmakers bashed the timing of the exit from the state of emergency. Yukio Edano, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said Thursday it was "premature" and he was worried that infections would jump again. Suga on Wednesday pledged to take steps to prevent a resurgence of infections, a particular concern as the country enters the season for cherry blossom-viewing parties as well as graduation and school entrance celebrations. But he did not elaborate on specifics. According to government sources, he is set to announce at a press conference new measures aimed at supporting eateries hit hard by the pandemic, bolstering the health care system, preventing the spread of more contagious coronavirus variants and stepping up testing and vaccination. Japan's entry ban on virtually all nonresident foreign nationals as well as its suspension of the "Go To Travel" subsidy program to boost domestic tourism are expected to remain in place for the time being. Governors of the four prefectures in the Tokyo region agreed in a virtual meeting Wednesday to continue asking restaurants and bars to close early until the end of March but that they will push back the time to 9 p.m. The decision to exit the state of emergency comes as Suga seeks to resuscitate the world's third-largest economy and restore confidence in his administration following a series of ethics scandals at the communications ministry, including one linked to his eldest son who works for a broadcasting company. It also comes with less than five months to go until the postponed Tokyo Olympics, which the International Olympic Committee and local organizers say will go ahead this summer despite COVID-19 concerns, likely without overseas spectators. Suga declared a one-month emergency in the Tokyo region on Jan. 7 amid a surge in infections, later expanding it to a total of 11 prefectures and extending it for most of them by another month, to March 7. It was further extended by two weeks to Sunday for the capital and the three neighboring prefectures. ==Kyodo