TOKYO: The administration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is increasingly expected to at least partially extend its state of emergency declared over the coronavirus epidemic, which is currently slated to expire on May 6, sources said Friday.

At a meeting of the government's coronavirus response headquarters held at the prime minister's office on Friday, Abe called on citizens to refrain from going out and cooperate to reduce interactions by 80 pct during the Golden Week holiday period, which starts later this month and ends on May 6.

He is expected to decide whether to lift the state of emergency or to continue it based on infection levels during the holiday period.

"It is now an extremely important period for bringing the state of emergency to a swift close," Abe said at the meeting. "We'll speed up efforts to reduce interactions by 80 pct," he said, indicating that the names of businesses that are defying requests to close temporarily to help bring the epidemic under control could be disclosed.

At a press conference the same day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga refrained from commenting on whether the state of emergency will be extended, saying, "The situation is changing by the minute."

"We'll decide whether to extend (the state of emergency) beyond May 6 after hearing from experts," he added.

The government issued the emergency declaration on April 7, initially covering only seven prefectures--Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka. While it was expanded on April 16 to include all of the 40 other prefectures of the country as well, the end of the epidemic remains out of sight.

"The common view of experts is that it is too early for lifting the declaration," a government source said.

A senior government official said, "An extension will be unavoidable."

Meanwhile, another senior official said, "It would be necessary to handle the 13 prefectures designated as areas where intensive infection prevention measures are taken separately from other prefectures."

At the headquarters meeting, Abe said that the government will provide 15 million surgical masks, 1.5 million high-performance masks, 1.3 million medical gowns and 1.9 million face shields to medical institutions across the country within this month.

The prime minister also issued instructions for creating as early as possible a system for grasping the situation at hospitals that are conducting coronavirus checks and treating patients of the virus, in order to distribute protective gear to the facilities.

JIJI Press