Tokyo aims to lift COVID-19 curbs on restaurants as cases fall – media
TOKYO
– The
Tokyo
Metropolitan Government is aiming to ease
COVID
–
19
restrictions on bars and
restaurants
next week as infections continue to decline, the Jiji news service said on Wednesday.
The easing will be announced as early as Thursday and would apply to businesses that are certified as following anti-infection measures, Jiji reported, citing informed sources.
Representatives for the
Tokyo
government did not im
media
tely respond to a request for comment by Reuters.
Tokyo
and much of Japan
lift
ed
COVID
–
19
emergency measures on Oct. 1 that had been in place for almost six months. Even so,
restaurants
and bars in the capital have been asked to halt alcohol sales by 8 p.m. and close by 9 p.m.
New daily
cases
in
Tokyo
dropped to 29 on Monday, the lowest since June last year. Infections have
fall
en dramatically from a wave of more than 5,000 a day in August that hammered the capital’s medical infrastructure.
Some 67% of Japan’s population is now fully vaccinated, and the government is planning to roll out booster shots this winter. At the same time,
authorities are planning to use a combination of vaccination certificates
and
COVID
–
19
tests to further ease
curbs
and reopen the economy. –
Reuters