首都圏４都県、時短要請２時間前倒しへ　飲食店、午後８時まで

　新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大に伴い、東京都と埼玉、千葉、神奈川３県が３日、飲食店などへの営業時間短縮要請を２時間前倒しし、午後８時までとする方向で調整していることが分かった。関係者によると、対象を現在の酒類を提供する飲食店とカラオケ店から飲食店全般に拡大することも検討している。
　現在の閉店時間は午後１０時。首都圏では年末年始も感染の広がりに歯止めがかからず、医療提供体制は逼迫（ひっぱく）している。４都県はこれ以上の感染拡大を抑えるため、連携して時短要請の２時間前倒しに取り組むことにした。前倒しの開始日や要請期間についても足並みをそろえる見通し。（2021/01/04-00:33）

Tokyo and the neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa are considering asking restaurants to close by 8 p.m., compared with the currently requested closure time of 10 p.m., amid the rapid spread of the new coronavirus, informed sources said Sunday.
   They are also considering having the request to shorten business hours cover all restaurants, the sources said. Currently, only restaurants serving alcohol and karaoke parlors are covered by such a request.
   In the Tokyo metropolitan area, the COVID-19 outbreak is showing no sign of abating during the year-end and New Year holiday period, putting medical systems in the region under strain.
   To prevent the virus from spreading further, Tokyo and the three prefectures decided to cooperate in asking restaurants to close two hours early. They also plan to keep in step with each other regarding the timing and the duration of making the two-hour shortening request, the sources said.
   On Saturday, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and the governors of the three prefectures met with economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is in charge of the government's coronavirus responses, to request an emergency declaration by the state over the coronavirus epidemic. At the meeting, Nishimura asked the governors to urge restaurants in respective prefectures to close by 8 p.m.