The Japanese government is considering lifting a state of emergency in Tokyo, surrounding areas and the island of Hokkaido as the number of nCoV infections is declining.

The government will raise this issue at an advisory committee meeting on May 25.

Tokyo today recorded 14 new cases of nCoV after only reporting two cases yesterday.

"The number of infections is getting lower every day. This can be seen even in areas where emergency situations are still being applied," Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told NHK this morning.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and some other areas from April 7 then expanded nationwide.

A state of emergency allows local governments to ask businesses to close or shorten their operations and to ask people not to leave their homes.

Prime Minister Abe said he would work closely with regional governments to prepare for a second wave of infection that experts say is inevitable.