People cross a street in Tokyo's Ikebukuro area, on Sunday. Japan has reported more than 404,000 COVID-19 infections as of Sunday, with 6,373 deaths. The Japanese government planned to extend its state of emergency for another month to March 7. Photo: AFP

The Japanese government's advisory panel on coronavirus countermeasures approved on Thursday a plan to let the state of emergency expire in the Tokyo area as scheduled on Sunday, Economy Minister Yasuhisa Nishimura said.

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had flagged the plan late on Wednesday, saying that the availability of hospital beds had improved in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures.

"There was no objection to the plan," Nishimura, who also heads Japan's coronavirus response, said after a meeting with the advisory panel. 

He added, however, that experts noted that infections had been creeping up in recent days, and that a resurgence was bound to occur.

While the number of new COVID-19 cases has plunged from a peak in early January, the daily tally for Tokyo remains far from Governor Yuriko Koike's target of reducing the seven-day average to 70 percent or lower from the preceding week.

On Wednesday, the capital reported 409 cases, compared with a peak of 2,520 on January 7, but the highest since mid-February.

"The important thing is to make sure the rebound is not a big one - to keep the waves small," Nishimura said in a statement.

AFP