Japan Decided to Cancel the State of Emergency

On Monday, May 25, the Japanese authorities have decided to cancel the emergency state (ES) in the country, that was established on April 8, and then expanded on the whole country on April 16 due to the threat of the spread of a new coronavirus.

According to official figures, the number of people infected with coronavirus in the country exceeds 17,300 people, including passengers and the crew of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with more than 850 people dead. Over 13,800 people have recovered and were released from the medical supervision.

“Today is the day we begin to reclaim our normality and embrace a new normal in the time of coronavirus,” the prime minister Shinzo Abe told reporters at a press conference in Tokyo. “Even after the state of emergency was lifted … the coronavirus continues to exist for sure.”

Earlier in May, due to the low number of cases, the authorities lifted restrictions for 39 prefectures, and then also for the prefectures of Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto, but the emergency mode continued to operate until May 31 in five prefectures in Japan: Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba and Hokkaido. Now the emergency mode is prematurely withdrawn in most of Japan.

Note that the disease has not been completely defeated, and over the past day in the country 14 new cases of infection have been detected, therefore, it is necessary to still observe precautions.