Tokyo, Jul 18, 2020, SPA -- Japan is having second thoughts about relaxing the current restrictions on the number of spectators allowed to enter sporting and other major events, Kyodo cited a senior government official as saying Saturday. "We need to think about this carefully," Yasutoshi Nishimura, economy minister in charge of Japan's measures against the spread of the coronavirus, said at a press conference, referring to the government's initial plan to further ease the restrictions next month. Tokyo's Asakusa district is crowded with visitors on June 20, 2020, the first weekend since Japan lifted its final advisories on inter-prefecture travel, based on the belief that the spread of the novel coronavirus has been kept in check. His comment came amid a recent surge in the number of infections in Tokyo and elsewhere, after the government fully ended a nationwide state of emergency in late May. On July 10, Japan relaxed its guidance for spectators at sporting, concert and other events to a maximum of 5,000 from the previous 1,000, while the capacity at indoor venues must be kept at 50 percent or below the usual level. The government had initially planned to scrap the limits as early as Aug. 1. --SPA 22:49 LOCAL TIME 19:49 GMT 0015 www.spa.gov.sa/w1373046