TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday showed a plan to partially lift the government's emergency school closure request related to the novel coronavirus from the new school year starting next month.

Presenting the plan at a meeting of the government's headquarters on the fight against the new virus, Abe instructed the education ministry to draw up guidelines on school restart.

Abe sought continued caution on holding large-scale events, for which the government has been calling for restraints.

The prime minister announced the administration's positions after a panel of experts under the government on Thursday unveiled its assessment of the situation on the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.

The government late last month asked for emergency closures of all elementary, junior high and high schools, and special-needs schools in the nation until the start of the regular spring break as part of measures to contain the crisis.

Introducing the assessment by the panel, Abe said that the country continues to be able to curb the pace of infection growth to some extent. The requests for school closures and restraints on events are believed to have turned out to be effective, he also said.

Still, Abe called for infection prevention measures to be kept in place, warning that an explosive surge in infections could occur unless efforts are continued.

Following Abe's instructions, education minister Koichi Hagiuda told reporters, "We hope to announce the guidelines on school restart from the new school year as early as possible next week."

Under the guidelines, the country will be divided into areas where infections are spreading, areas where infections are subsiding and areas where no infection has been confirmed, and advice and suggestions will be given to each of the areas, according to Hagiuda.

If schools opt to offer extra classes for students during the spring break, the decisions will be respected, Hagiuda said.

At the task force meeting, Abe asked organizers to consider whether to hold large-scale events based on the view shown by the expert panel.

The panel called on organizers themselves to assess risks and make careful decisions. If organizers need to hold events, appropriate measures to prevent infections should be taken, the panel said.

JIJI Press