Tokyo to request new emergency declaration as COVID-19 cases climb

TOKYO: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will request the central government to declare a new state of emergency over a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is set to meet Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on Saturday afternoon to make the request, Nikkei said, citing multiple sources.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has resisted calls to reinstate a state of emergency, which the government instituted in April during an earlier wave of the pandemic.

New COVID-19 infections in Tokyo hit a record 1,337 on Dec. 31.