Passersby wearing protective face masks, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, walk at a shopping arcade in the prefectural capital Naha, on the southern island of Okinawa, Okinawa prefecture, Japan, October 24, 2021. Picture taken October 24, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato
January 7, 2022
TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese government panel put forward a formal request on Friday to declare quasi-emergency measures to stem a surge in coronavirus cases.
The measures would affect the southern prefecture of Okinawa and the western prefectures of Hiroshima and Yamaguchi, lasting from Jan. 9 until the end of the month.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
