Japan lifts virus emergency in all areas

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has lifted a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and four other remaining areas, ending the restrictions nationwide.

Experts on a government-commissioned panel approved the lifting of the emergency in Tokyo, neighboring Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama prefectures, and in Hokkaido to the north, which had remained under the emergency declaration after it was removed in most of Japan earlier this month.

Japan, with about 16,600 confirmed cases and about 850 deaths, has so far avoided the large outbreaks that have been experienced in the US and the Europe despite its softer restrictions.