日本首相安倍晋三5月25日宣布结束大东京地区和北海道为控制新冠肺炎疫情而实施的紧急状态。至此，日本国内已全部解除紧急状态，民众可以自由外出，企业恢复运营。

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday declared an end to the state of emergency imposed to control the novel coronavirus outbreak in the greater Tokyo area and Hokkaido. 

 

With the decision covering Tokyo, the prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama, as well as Hokkaido in the north, Japan has now lifted the emergency imposed across the whole country, allowing citizens to go out freely and businesses to resume operations. 

 

"We had very stringent¹ criteria² for lifting the state of emergency. We have judged that we have met those criteria," Abe said. 

 

However, the prime minister also called for people to alter their lifestyles by wearing face masks, maintaining social distancing and trying to work from home.

 

Separately, Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan's minister in charge of the virus response, said the government will designate a transitional period and assess the infection situation every three weeks, and people will be asked to refrain from crossing prefectural borders until the end of May.

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