People wearing face masks walk along Asakusa Nakamise shopping street in Tokyo, on Aug. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Japanese government on Thursday retained its view on the domestic economy in its monthly assessment for August, saying increased weakness has been seen in some sectors, while warning of downside risks from a recent resurgence of coronavirus infections.

       The economy shows "further" weakness in some components and remains in a severe situation due to the pandemic, the Cabinet Office said, as the government's fourth state of emergency over the virus has been expanded to 13 out of Japan's 47 prefectures, with eight more to be added from Friday.

       The measure only covered Tokyo and Okinawa a month ago.

       The wording was used for the fourth month in a row after a downward revision in May, when the previous virus emergency for Tokyo and some other areas was in effect.

       Looking forward, the report said the economy is expected to continue picking up, but warned full attention should be given to a "further increase in downside risks" due to the spread of the virus.

       "Given factors such as how fast virus cases increase since the beginning of this month along with expansions of the virus emergency, we thought we should change the description" for the economic outlook, a government official told reporters.

       The number of new daily COVID-19 cases nationwide has kept expanding since around late July, with the figure breaking the previous record of nearly 8,000 marked in early January and topping the 25,000 mark for the third straight day on Saturday amid the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

       Under the state of emergency, restaurants and bars are asked not to serve alcohol and close by 8 p.m., while major commercial facilities such as department stores are requested to limit the number of customers allowed in at the same time.

       The end date of the latest emergency is currently set on Sept. 12.

       By component, the office retained its view that private consumption has shown "further" weakness, especially in services spending. In addition to the surging virus cases, the official said he believes heavy rain across the nation earlier in August also dampened consumer sentiment.

       Upgrading the evaluation of corporate profits for the first time since February, the report said earnings are "picking up, although some weaknesses remain in nonmanufacturers" due to the impact of the virus. The July report had said they were "picking up as a whole."

       Meanwhile, imports saw the first downgrading in 10 months, as the office said they are "pausing" in recovery recently, compared with the July report that said they showed "movements of picking up."

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