On the 21st, citizens wearing masks are protesting against Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the streets of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. The number of new COVID-19 cases in Japan has dropped to the 20,000 range for the first time in over two months.
According to the local public broadcaster NHK's tally as of 6 p.m. on the 21st, 27,701 new COVID-19 infections were confirmed across Japan.
This is the first time since January 17 (20,976 cases) that Japan's daily COVID-19 cases have decreased to the 20,000 range.
In response, the Japanese government recently decided to fully lift the "Priority Measures to Prevent the Spread of Disease" (hereafter referred to as Priority Measures), a set of emergency measures including restrictions on restaurant operating hours and alcohol service, starting from the 22nd.
The full lifting of Japan's emergency measures comes about two and a half months after the Priority Measures were first applied this year on January 8 to three prefectures including Okinawa Prefecture.
The Priority Measures had at one point expanded to 36 prefectures but have since been reduced in coverage.
The Priority Measures, which were last applied to 18 prefectures including Tokyo and Osaka, will be lifted starting on the 22nd.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
