TOKYO: Growth in the number of novel coronavirus patients in Tokyo is slowing this week, an expert said Friday.

The number of patients in the Japanese capital had continued to increase rapidly, but the growth started to slow somewhat around April 10 and is decelerating further this week, Hokkaido University Prof. Hiroshi Nishiura told reporters.

This is apparently thanks to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's request, made on March 25, for residents to refrain from going out, Nishiura, who monitors infection trends at a coronavirus response team of the health ministry, said, stressing the need to continue analyzing future developments.

Thorough infection prevention measures should be kept in place, Nishiura said, urging people to continue efforts to reduce interactions with others toward the Golden Week holiday period between later this month and early May.

There is a possibility that people-to-people contact has not been reduced sufficiently in some areas, Nishiura said, citing positioning data from mobile phones and other information.

Nishiura said that the effects of the government's state of emergency declaration over the coronavirus need to be examined later.

The emergency declaration, issued on April 7, initially covered seven prefectures with surges in infection cases--Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka--and was expanded nationwide on April 16.

JIJI Press