Japan Extends State of Emergency, COVID-19 Cases Surge Over Olympics

Japan has decided to expand the scope of the state of emergency to three prefectures near Tokyo, which hosts the Olympic Games, and Osaka prefecture in the west of the country, with an increase in cases of COVID-19 that severely affected the summer games.

Tokyo is already subject to its fourth state of emergency since the pandemic began, and today, Friday, it announced the registration of 3,300 new cases, after the number reached a record high of 3,865 the previous day. That increase began to put pressure on the health system, as it had already filled 64% of the beds designated for severe Covid cases. in the capital’s hospitals.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the new measures and said they would take effect from August 2 until the end of the month, while it was decided to extend the state of emergency in Tokyo and the southern island of Okinawa until August 31.