Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks to reporters at his office in Tokyo on the evening of July 7, 2021. (Mainichi/Kan Takeuchi)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Japanese government plans to declare another COVID-19 state of emergency in Tokyo amid a resurgence of infections just over two weeks before the Summer Olympics open in the capital, a senior official with knowledge of the matter said Wednesday.

       Such a decision is almost certain to affect the impending decision of games organizers regarding how many spectators to allow at venues.

       The Tokyo metropolitan government reported 920 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the most since mid-May at the peak of Japan's fourth wave of infections. The Japanese capital reported 1,010 new COVID-19 cases on May 13.

       Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he will decide Thursday what to do regarding the 10 prefectures including Tokyo and Osaka where a quasi-state of emergency is set to expire Sunday, as well as Okinawa where a full-fledged state of emergency is in place.

       "Infections in Tokyo are trending upward, and we will take every necessary measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus," he told reporters after meeting with members of his Cabinet including health minister Norihisa Tamura and Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of the pandemic response.

       Earlier in the day, the Osaka prefectural government asked the Japanese government to maintain business restrictions under the quasi-state of emergency, which entails smaller fines for noncompliance with restrictions than a full-fledged state of emergency and can target specific high-risk areas rather than entire prefectures.

       The request by the metropolitan area in western Japan came amid concern that the Tokyo Olympics from July 23 could trigger another surge in infections.

       Osaka's daily number of new coronavirus cases has fallen significantly from the peak of Japan's fourth wave of infections, with 126 reported Tuesday compared with 1,200 in mid-May.

       But the pace of decline has stalled in recent weeks, with prefectural officials voicing worries over the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus first detected in India and a rise of infections among people in their 20s and 30s.

       "There are signs that the coronavirus is beginning to spread again and there is a high risk of a rebound," Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said at a task force meeting.

       Restrictions including asking restaurants to stop serving alcohol by 7 p.m. and close by 8 p.m. should remain in place until the end of July when most elderly citizens will have been fully vaccinated, he said.

       Yoshimura said at a press conference he plans to ease a rule prohibiting alcohol from being served to groups of more than two people, raising the limit to a maximum of four.

       In a parliamentary hearing, Suga's top COVID-19 adviser, Shigeru Omi, expressed concern that the medical system could be strained if infections continue at the current pace, calling for effective measures ahead of the summer holiday season and the Olympics and Paralympics.

       Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said at a separate press conference the Japanese government will proceed "in consultation with local authorities."

       Declaring another state of emergency in Tokyo would require the organizers of the Summer Games, including the Tokyo metropolitan government, the Japanese organizing committee and the International Olympic Committee, to set a new cap on the number of spectators at venues.

       The organizers previously agreed to allow up to 10,000 people or 50 percent of a venue's capacity, whichever is fewer, on condition that the situation improved enough to lift the quasi-state of emergency.

       Omi reiterated that having no spectators at all was "desirable" and staff in attendance should be kept to a minimum.

       The leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Yukio Edano, also urged the Japanese government to prohibit fans at venues and argued that senior Olympic officials and sponsors should be barred as well.

       Suga has vowed to stage a "safe and secure" Summer Games as a symbol of humankind defeating COVID-19, promising to do so at a Group of Seven summit last month.

       But Edano said it is not too late to further postpone the Olympics, originally scheduled to be held last year, or cancel them outright.

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