Advisory Committee Chairman Omi "Raise your hands and do not unconditionally agree."

Regarding the decision to cancel the state of emergency in six prefectures except the Greater Tokyo Area, Chairman Shigeru Omi of the Advisory Committee said at a press conference held on the night of the 26th, "In today's advisory committee discussion, an emergency situation I wasn't unconditionally agreeing to lift the declaration a week ahead of schedule, in a nutshell. Concerns were expressed quite strongly about the move forward, and I myself am the same. I expressed concern. "

As a specific concern, Chairman Omi said, "The biggest concern is that the process of replacing the potentially infectious mutant virus with the conventional virus is almost certainly starting. Also, it is declared in the Kansai area etc. There is also a strong concern that the transmission of the message to lift the virus will loosen the guard against infections, including in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Even if the infection has decreased in the Kansai area, Chukyo area, and Fukuoka, The level of infection is still higher than when the second wave of the epidemic last summer subsided, and there was an opinion that we should be cautious about lifting it. "

On top of that, regarding the approval of the cancellation by the advisory committee, "In frank terms, it is a'conditional cancellation'. As soon as it is canceled, the whole society will loosen and the infection will spread again. Instead, I agreed that some measures would be taken, such as strengthening the monitoring system for mutant viruses. Even after the cancellation, the governors of each prefecture will be informed of an emergency. I want you to respond with the same tension, "he emphasized the importance of taking measures to prevent the re-spread of the infection.

On the other hand, regarding the decision to cancel the state of emergency in the Tokyo metropolitan area, which will expire on the 7th of next month, "The cancellation of the declaration in the metropolitan area centered on Tokyo is compared to other areas. The metropolitan area has a high population density, a lot of people move, and it is difficult to follow the source of infection. There are concerns about mutant viruses, so we should firmly release it. I think we should make a judgment that can be explained. "