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Osaka, Kyoto likely to come under expanded virus emergency
The three governors will meet online with Yasutoshi Nishimura, minister in charge of the government's response to the pandemic, officials said.
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An employee of a restaurant disinfects the counter as they prepare to resume their business, a day after the government announced the lifting of the state of emergency due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in large parts of the country, in Osaka, western Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo May 15, 2020. (REUTERS /Kyodo)
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he governors of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo are set to ask the central government Saturday to include their western Japan prefectures in the state of emergency that took effect a day earlier for the Tokyo region over the resurging coronavirus.
The three governors will meet online with Yasutoshi Nishimura, minister in charge of the government's response to the pandemic, officials said.
The request for expansion will come after Tokyo and its three neighboring prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama began Friday a one-month state of emergency.
Also Saturday, the National Governors' Association agreed to draft proposals on measures against the pandemic, asking the central government to swiftly expand the state of emergency if necessary to cover areas where infections are spreading rapidly.
The governors' body also called for urgent revision of a special measures law on pandemics to include penal provisions in order to make requests for business closures and shorter opening hours at bars and restaurants more effective.
The resurgence of the virus has been increasing the strain on the country's medical system.
By declaring a state of emergency, the central government enables local authorities to urge people to stay at home as much as possible and call on eateries to close earlier.
