On Friday, the Government s advisory panel approved a preliminary extension until June 20, just one month before the pandemic-postponed Olympics is set to kick off on July 23.
The spread of the Covid virus in Osaka, Japan's second largest city, with a population of 9 million people, is causing what doctors call a "system collapse" of the city's healthcare network
Cancelling the Tokyo Olympics will cost Japan around $17billion, while the damage caused by another Covid-19 state of emergency will be higher, experts have warned.
An estimate by the Nomura Research Insitute (NRI) has claimed that cancelling this summer s Tokyo Olympics would cost the country around $17billion (¥1.81 trillion).
But an economist at the think-tank has warned that the economic loss from coronavirus cases spiking after the event could be even more damaging, Japan Times reported.
Japan, which has recorded more than 700,000 infections and 12,000 deaths from the virus, is in the grip of a month-long state of emergency and has delivered vaccinations to just under 5 per cent of its population.
Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at NRI, said cancelling the Olympic Games will be a smaller economic loss than the damage caused if another Covid state of emergency is declared after the event.