Japan to fully lift Covid-19 emergency as cases fall dramatically nationwide, East Asia News & Top Stories – The Straits Times

TOKYO – Japan appears to be out of the woods from a Covid-19 wave because of the contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, allowing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to end an ongoing state of emergency as planned at midnight on Thursday (Sept 30) in one of his last acts in office. Mr Suga’s successor will be chosen on Wednesday by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in an internal party election with four candidates vying for the post. A tight race is expected between vaccination minister Taro Kono and former foreign minister Fumio Kishida. The Diet will convene next Monday to…