TOKYO, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Japan will likely extend the nationwide state of emergency until the end of May at the earliest as the nation continues to grapple with containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, government sources said Thursday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday reportedly told Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), that he was almost certainly going to extend the state of emergency past May 6.
"Returning to normalcy from May 7 is difficult and we need to brace for a protracted battle against the virus," the prime minister told reporters at his office.
"I will consult with experts as to the length of an extension," Abe said.
Government sources said such consultations could happen as early as Friday, with a final decision being made by Abe at some point thereafter as to the duration of the extension once he has heard an expert panels' assessment as to the pneumonia-carrying virus' spread across Japan and other pertinent details related to the pandemic.
The final decision may come on Monday next week, the sources said, although independent political watchers inferred it could come sooner.
"Local governments need to make preparations so I will make a decision sometime before the expiration date of May 6," Abe said.
Abe first declared a month-long state of emergency on April 7 until May 6 for Tokyo and six other prefectures as infections had started to spike in urban areas.
On April 16, Abe expanded the emergency declaration to cover all of Japan's 47 prefectures, with the move deliberately coming ahead of the Golden Week string of national holidays amid concerns masses of people may return to their hometowns or otherwise take vacations during the long holidays and further spread the virus to rural areas and further overburden the nation's already strained health system.
Under the state of emergency, people across Japan have been asked by local governments to remain at home as much as possible and significantly reduce their amount of human-to-human contact. Some businesses have also been requested to shutter their operations to contain the spread of the virus.
Coronavirus cases in Japan increased by 188 to 14,305, according to the most recent figures from the health ministry and local authorities released late Thursday evening.
The figures included 46 new infections in Tokyo and 28 in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido.
The nationwide death toll from the virus has now increased to 468, including those from a cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama near Tokyo.
In Tokyo, the epicenter of Japan's outbreak, the number of COVID-19 cases has increased to 4,152, accounting for more than one-third of all COVID-19 cases across the nation, followed by Osaka Prefecture with 1,626 infections.
Kanagawa Prefecture, meanwhile, has recorded 1,023 infections, Saitama Prefecture 860 infections, Chiba Prefecture 835 cases, Hokkaido Prefecture 767 infections, while Hyogo Prefecture has recorded 646 cases of COVID-19, according to the latest figures Thursday night.
The health ministry also said there are currently a total of 312 patients considered severely ill and are on ventilators to receive respiratory assistance or have been admitted to intensive care units for medical treatment.
The ministry also said that in total 4,117 people have been discharged from hospitals after their symptoms improved.
