Tokyo announces 7 criteria for easing biz suspension requests

The metropolitan government plans to formally decide on the criteria to use as a road map as early as next week, after listening to opinions from relevant business organizations.

The metropolitan government plans to keep its requests for restraint in place through the end of this month, even if the central government lifts its state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak before it expires. The Tokyo government aims to lift restrictions in stages starting in June or later.

The criteria that the metropolitan government is considering are:

■ The number of new cases;

■ The percentage of cases with unknown infection routes;

■ How the number of cases increases or decreases per week;

■ The number of patients with serious symptoms;

■ The number of patients hospitalized;

■ The percentage of positive results from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests; and

■ The number of consultations received about suspicious symptoms.

The metropolitan government is particularly focused on the first three criteria — whether the average number of new cases in the past seven days has fallen below 20; whether cases with unknown infection routes account for less than 50%; and if the weekly number of new cases turns downward.

If all three conditions are met, the metropolitan government will assess the situation by listening to expert opinions, and will start considering lifting restrictions while taking into account the remaining four criteria.

On the other hand, Koike said the metropolitan government will consider issuing its own warning called “Tokyo Alert” should the figures change for at least one of the criteria, such as the number of new cases in Tokyo turning upward once again. She would also call anew for businesses to suspend operations if those figures are exceeded for at least one of the criteria.

Koike used the term “Step Zero” to refer to the current situation in which the metropolitan government is asking residents to refrain from nonessential, nonurgent outings and for businesses to suspend operations. The governor said there will be three stages for easing these requests.

The first stage, “Step 1,” will be geared toward libraries, museums and other facilities deemed necessary to preserve the well-being of Tokyo residents and its local culture, while under “Step 2,” theaters and restaurants will be allowed to operate under certain conditions. In “Step 3,” requests for business suspensions will be lifted for all facilities except for those that pose a high risk.

The metropolitan government is expected to assess the data using all seven criteria when deciding on the stage.

While the Osaka prefectural government has already decided to end most of its business suspension requests based on its own criteria — such as the number of cases with unknown infection routes falling below 10 — the Tokyo metropolitan government has set more detailed criteria because it is more cautious about a second wave of infections.

“I’d like to present what we should do from now on and share it with you [in the road map],” Koike told reporters earlier on Friday. “It is important to continue efforts to prevent the further spread of infections in Tokyo, for the sake of Tokyoites, the economy of Tokyo and the economy of Japan.”