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On April 23, 2021, the Prime Minister held the 62nd meeting of the Novel Coronavirus Response Headquarters at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
At the meeting, the participants discussed the response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Following the discussion, the Prime Minister said,
 
 “The number of cases of new infections nationwide has continued to rise since last month, and the medical systems in Osaka and Hyogo Prefectures are now in a more severe state than ever before. In addition, the proportion of those testing positive for highly infectious coronavirus variants has grown to roughly 80 percent in Osaka and Hyogo, and about 30 percent in Tokyo.
 
In light of these circumstances, I have made the decision today to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hyogo Prefectures. This will be in effect from April 25 to May 11.
 
In addition, we will newly implement priority measures, such as for the prevention of the spread of disease, in Ehime Prefecture and extend such measures to May 11 in Miyagi and Okinawa Prefectures.
 
This declaration of a state of emergency is aimed at strengthening countermeasures intensively during the Golden Week holidays targeting dining and drinking, while taking powerful steps to temporarily curb the flow of people. We request dining and drinking establishments to suspend the serving of alcohol and the offering of karaoke. We ask department stores, theme parks, and other facilities to close temporarily, and events and sporting events be held without spectators in principle. We also aim to reduce the number of people commuting to work by 70 percent through teleworking and leave time.
 
We have also decided on the support measures for those affected by the declaration. I ask the relevant ministries and agencies to act swiftly and thoroughly to encourage extending the grace period on repayment and offering new loans to retailers and culture-related businesses subject to the measures under the declaration, in addition to dining establishments and lodging facilities that have been heavily impacted financially. Moreover, we will provide cooperation money or lump-sum payments for dining and drinking establishments, large-scale facilities that respond to the requests for temporary closure, and other enterprises suffering declining sales.
 
Following today’s decision, I ask each minister to make every possible effort to suppress the spread of infections, by thoroughly ensuring that your staff work from home, approaching industries under your jurisdiction to curb the flow of people, and taking other measures.”