Japan lifts coronavirus travel curbs to help economy

Japan lifted all coronavirus-related curbs on domestic travel on Friday, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calling on people to go sightseeing or attend concerts and other events to help the economy bounce back from a recession.

Japan began lifting its pandemic lockdown in May as coronavirus infections fell. The latest easing comes after the end of an emergency declaration that allowed people to return to work and bars and restaurants implementing social distancing measures to reopen.

In addition, Japan is also allowing up to 1,000 people to gather at indoor and outdoor events. Japanese professional baseball teams will also restart games on Friday, although spectators will be locked out. Japan by Thursday had recorded 17,789 cases of the novel coronavirus with 948 deaths, according to NHK.