(Reuters) – The Japanese authorities’s advisory panel is ready to approve increasing stricter anti-COVID-19 measures to 18 further regions on Tuesday, placing over 70% of the nation beneath restrictions.
The Osaka and Kyoto prefectures in western Japan are among the many areas to be lined by the measures, which have been launched in response to a surge of infections and hospitalization pushed by the Omicron variant.
Japan logged over 44,000 new circumstances Monday, in accordance to a tally compiled by public broadcaster NHK.
The restrictions can be enforced from Sunday by way of Feb. 20, and governors in these regions can request eating places and bars to shorten enterprise hours and cease serving alcohol.
The advisory panel can also be anticipated to greenlight extending so-called the quasi-emergency measures already utilized in three regions by way of Feb. 20.
The central authorities’s taskforce led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is ready to formally approve these selections on Tuesday night.
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama;Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
