Japan lifts coronavirus travel curbs to help economy bounce back

Japan lifted all coronavirus-related curbs on domestic travel on Friday, with PM Shinzo Abe calling on people to go sightseeing or attend concerts and other events to help the nation’s economy bounce back from a pandemic recession. Japan began lifting its pandemic lockdown in May as coronavirus infections fell. The latest easing on Thursday comes after the end of an emergency declaration that allowed people to return to work and for bars and restaurants implementing social distancing measures to reopen. “I would like people, while observing social distancing, to go out on sightseeing trips. We would like you to make an effort to engage in social and economic activity,” Abe said Thursday. Japan’s two big airlines, ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines Co., say they are restarting some domestic flights as demand picks up, but both say flight schedules by July will still only be half of what they had planned before the coronavirus pandemic.<br/>