Japan’s Abe expands state of emergency nationwide to halt virus spread

TOKYO (Reuters) – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday expanded Japan’s state of emergency to all areas of the country in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Abe said the emergency would be in place until May 6 and was aimed at reducing traffic during the Golden Week holiday season around the start of May.

Japan had previously declared a state of emergency for seven of its 47 prefectures.

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher and Junko Fujita; Editing by David Dolan)