Companies will no longer be required to find out if employees have had close contact with COVID-19 patients, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday.
At a press conference, Kishida said, "The end of the sixth wave is in sight." He also stressed that the government would continue coronavirus prevention measures for the time being.
A government expert panel approved Thursday an expected government decision to end the quasi-emergency priority measures as scheduled Monday in 18 prefectures: Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido, Aomori, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Ishikawa, Shizuoka, Gifu, Aichi, Kyoto, Hyogo, Kagawa and Kumamoto prefectures. The government will make an official decision soon.
