Three regions near Tokyo to ask for state of emergency on Thursday -minister

Three prefectures around Japan's capital of Tokyo are set to ask the government to call a state of emergency there on Thursday, said Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is spearheading efforts to battle the coronavirus.

Tokyo is under a state of emergency even as it hosts the Olympic Games, though curbs are slightly less restrictive in the surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Saitama.

Nishimura also forecast that daily COVID-19 cases, already at a record high, would rise further in the coming days as testing may have been delayed during last week's holidays.