TOKYO: The education board of the Tokyo metropolitan government at an extraordinary meeting Wednesday decided to extend school closures for preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus to May 6, the final day of the Golden Week holiday period.

The move comes as the number of coronavirus cases, including those with no identifiable infection routes, soars in the Japanese capital.

The measure, designed to protect children's health, will apply to 246 out of the metropolitan government-run high schools and special-needs schools. The education board initially planned to continue the school closures until the end of the spring break in early April.

The board will allow schools to hold entrance and start-of-term ceremonies on the dates planned by them, but will urge them to scale down the events and take sufficient infection prevention measures.

The board will also urge high schools to instruct students to study from home using information and communications technology.

The policy of extending the school closures was confirmed at a meeting later on Wednesday of the Tokyo metropolitan government's task force on the coronavirus pandemic.

"We remain in a critical situation," Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said, expressing concern over a possible explosive rise in coronavirus infection cases in Tokyo.

Tokyo elementary and junior high schools, which are operated by municipalities in the capital, are not subject to the extension of the closures. The metropolitan education board plans to strongly call on municipal boards of education to cooperate with measures to prevent the spread of the virus if they plan to reopen schools after the spring break.

JIJI Press