The state of emergency for Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures imposed over the COVID-19 pandemic will be lifted as scheduled on March 21, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on March 17. Suga discussed lifting the state of emergency with Norihisa Tamura, the health minister, and Yasutoshi Nishimura, the state minister in charge of economic revitalization who also heads the central government’s efforts in dealing with COVID-19, according to several government sources. Suga stated his decision to lift the state of emergency during that meeting on March 17, which followed a session of the health ministry's panel of experts. Suga said that a final decision will be made on March 18 after the meeting of an expert panel.