FUKUOKA: Fukuoka Governor Seitaro Hattori said Monday that Japanese economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura has turned down his request for the early lifting of the ongoing novel coronavirus pre-emergency designation for the southwestern prefecture.

Hattori asked Nishimura over the phone the same day for the removal of the central government measure for Fukuoka before its currently scheduled expiration on July 11. But the minister did not accept the request, the prefectural leader told reporters.

The governor quoted Nishimura, who is responsible for the national government’s coronavirus countermeasures, as saying that the state is not considering lifting the pre-emergency status early for any of the 10 prefectures now under the measure.

As reasons for turning down the Fukuoka prefectural government’s request, Nishimura said that the summer holiday period, in which the flow of people tends to increase, is set to start while citing the spread of the coronavirus delta strain, first identified in India, according to the governor.

Nishimura also told Hattori that many people travel between the city of Fukuoka, the capital of the prefecture, and Tokyo, where there are signs of new infection cases increasing again, possibly having a major impact on the whole of the Kyushu region, which includes the prefecture.

Hattori called for the early lifting of the pre-emergency designation since the occupancy rate for hospital beds for COVID-19 patients and that for beds for seriously ill patients have both fallen below 20 percent in his prefecture.

“The prefectural government has worked hard with local residents (to exit the pre-emergency status early),” Hattori said. “I feel painful” to have been unable to obtain the central government’s approval for the early lifting of the pre-emergency designation, he added.

The pre-emergency stage for the other nine prefectures, including Tokyo, is also slated to run until July 11.

JIJI Press