The Japanese government plans to extend a state of emergency to combat Covid-19 for Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures until March 21, two weeks longer than originally scheduled, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura has said.

According to Reuters, under the state of emergency, the government has requested restaurants and bars to close by 8pm and stop serving alcohol an hour earlier. People are also asked to stay home after 8pm unless they have essential reasons to go out.

Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures, which make up 30 per cent of the country's population, sought the extension past the originally scheduled end date of March 7 as new coronavirus cases had not fallen enough to meet targets.