Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has announced a Covid-19 state of emergency for Tokyo that will run through the city’s hosting of the Olympics, as organisers consider banning all spectators, Fan-Free, from the event.

Suga said on Thursday that the state of emergency would go in effect on Monday and last until August 22 and cover the duration of the Olympic Games, in an effort to curb a recent surge in COVID-19 infections, local media reported on Thursday.

 The Tokyo metropolitan government reported 920 new infected cases on Wednesday, reaching a new high since the peak of Japan’s fourth wave in mid-May and exceeding the figure from a week earlier for the 18th straight day, reports Xinhua.  Health experts, including Suga’s top COVID-19 adviser Shigeru Omi, have warned that the Olympics accompanied with the summer holidays and the highly contagious Delta variant, initially detected in India, could trigger a surge in infections.  Suga will finalise the decision to declare a state of emergency for Tokyo and extend the existing one in Okinawa at a task force meeting on Thursday evening. He will hold a press conference to explain the decision later in the evening.

Meanwhile, Osaka, along with Chiba, Saitama, and Kanagawa prefectures, will extend the quasi-state of emergency, which is less restrictive on business activity, until August 22. However, Hokkaido, Aichi, Kyoto, Hyogo, and Fukuoka will end the quasi-state of emergency on Sunday as scheduled.

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